Service Oriented Architecture Adoption: A Systematic Review

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) has appeared as an absorbing architectural approach that empowers the available systems to reveal their performance in the act of services without creating important changes to the systems. This approach, due to its flexibility of adoption, has been widely appreciated by the businesses. Though there are many studies that depict successful factors of SOA, a few minor cases of failure have also been reported in the literature. In spite of the availability of rich material on SOA, there is no systematic literature review on the influential aspect of SOA adoption factors. Thus, this paper presents a systematic literature review of existing studies (from 2009 to 2015) related to the SOA adoption and its success and failure. The central purpose of the study is to focus on the existing issues and share the findings with researchers. Moreover, the findings of this paper would help the IT experts in organizations focus on the most important factors highlighted in this study, so they could decide whether it is advisable to adopt SOA in their context or not

Developing business process analyst competencies through higher education institution interventions - a Kenyan study

Kenya is currently experiencing large-scale economic growth. With this economic growth has come the need for organizations to have well-defined business processes largely through the development of business process management (BPM) initiatives. There is also an increasing move towards the automation of these business processes mainly through the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. This has given rise to the need for business process analyst (BPA) role. BPAs are essential to driving both BPM initiatives and ERP systems implementations. Given this scenario, the first motivation for this study was to investigate the status of BPM in Kenya and the role of the BPA in organizations in Kenya. This study specifically investigated BPA competency-building interventions required to drive BPM maturity and ERP systems implementation projects. Given that no BPM curriculum existed in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in Kenya at the commencement of this study, the second motivation of the study was to investigate how these BPA competency-building interventions could be adapted into BPM curriculum. To answer the research questions for this study, the pragmatic research paradigm was used. A hybrid inductive-deductive research approach was deemed most appropriate. This study used a mixed methods approach. This meant that both quantitative and qualitative data was collected. Data for this study was collected iteratively between March 2016 and October 2018 using a crosssectional or multiple snapshots time horizon. Results from the data analysis explained 12 BPA competency-building interventions. Thereafter, a BPM curriculum was designed using the design science research method (DSRM). The study incorporated the concepts of the 4I framework of organizational learning and the concepts of the activity system. The scientific contributions of this study comprise three aspects. Firstly, this research identified that certain BPA competencies such as business requirements elicitation, business process improvement, business analysis and holistic overview of business thinking were perceived to have been undervalued in the Kenyan context. Business process orchestration competencies were perceived to be critical for driving BPM in organizations and for successfully managing ERP systems implementations. Secondly, the study established that BPA competency-building interventions such as inter-group collaboration, on-the-job/experiential learning and vendor certifications were among the highly impactful interventions. Thirdly, the study designed a novel BPM curriculum, a first for Kenya. The curriculum incorporated the 4I framework of organizational learning and activity systems in its design and implementation. The results of the evaluation of the BPM curriculum established that students found it useful for building critical BPA competencies such as business analysis, business requirements elicitation and business process improvement. Data collection for this study was limited to the BPA role within organizations and Business and Information Technology students undertaking a BPM course in HEI within the Kenyan context. Future research can extend data collection to other key staff members such as managers and human resource experts. Further, the BPM curriculum artefact was evaluated in the last 2 weeks of a 4-month semester within which the BPM curriculum was run. Therefore, a comprehensive evaluation could not be carried out due to time constraints. Future studies can extend findings from this study by using a design science approach of artefact evaluation to implement a comprehensive and detailed evaluation of the BPM curriculum. This can provide additional insights into the ways in which the BPM curriculum can be improved. There is also an opportunity to use action research as a methodology to validate the educational interventions established in this study. Action research would drive in-depth engagement with both BPAs in industry and students undertaking BPM curriculum in HEI with the aim of effecting contributions to both theory and practice

DEVELOPMENT OF A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR COMPANIES IN THE ENERGY FROM BIOMASS AREA, APPLYING CIRCULAR ECONOMY PRINCIPLES WITH A LIFE CYCLE THINKING APPROACH

The biomass supply chain (BSC) for energy production has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional fossil fuels, playing a crucial role in mitigating climate change and promoting sustainable development. Biomass utilisation offers numerous environmental, economic, and social benefits, including reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, enhanced energy security, and job creation in rural areas, which are known as important aspects of sustainable development. Moreover, the use of waste, by-products, and residue in BSC is essential to improving the circular economy (CE) in agriculture, wood, and paper processing industries, as well as waste treatment and management. Therefore, to further harness the potential of biomass energy production in sustainability and transition to the CE context, it is significant for companies in the BSC to apply circular business models (CBM).While the role of biomass in the CE has been confirmed, the gap still exists in evaluating the application of CE to the BSC. Up to the authors’ knowledge, currently, there is no set of circularity and sustainability indicators as standard for the company in the BSC. The variety of CE approaches and indicators makes it difficult to convert linear business models into circular ones. In addition, the variety of biomass materials, differences in biomass processing technology and multiple end-products lead to transformation into a CE model in many alternatives with many stages and different technology processes. Furthermore, some indicators assessing aspects of sustainability and circularity of different alternatives are subject to conflict and trade-offs. A more sustainable solution might not necessarily be better in terms of circularity and similar trade-offs exist within the pillars of sustainability. Given the trade-offs between sustainability and circularity, decision support systems (DSS) based on life cycle thinking with a standard set of indicators are promising tools for evaluating and selecting the best alternative of sustainability and circularity BSC.For what is above, this PhD research project was focused on developing a decision support system for a biomass company in the energy sector based on CE and sustainability models with a life cycle thinking approach. With the CE and sustainability model, a set of circularity and sustainability indicators is developed, and it is considered a criteria set to assess the circularity and sustainability of biomass companies and BSC. The life cycle thinking approach is employed to provide a comprehensive assessment for BSC. It is also basic to collect data from BSC and give value to indicators for assessing and ranking alternatives. The trade-off existing in alternatives is solved by using Multiple-criteria decision-making methods. That is integrated into the methodology framework of the decision support system.The PhD research project is structured around two main objectives. First, from CE and sustainability models, a set of circularity and sustainability is development. Secondly, a DSS tool is created. The set of developed indicators considers various stages during the BSC, such as feedstock plantation, processing, transportation, energy conversion, and end-of-life management, being aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the EC’s guidelines on the transition to CE. Meanwhile, the creation of a DSS includes proposing a methodology framework for DSS, creating software in MATLAB GUI and Script as a new tool for DSS, and applying this tool to the rice straw supply chain as testing for the case study.Regarding the case study, a rice straw supply chain for energy production in the Pavia region of Italy is selected. The data for the case study was collected during the internship period at the ENI company, such as parameters of the plant and process. The current of the rice straw supply chain is assessed by the DSS tool, and a re-edited version of this tool was taken. The alternatives of CE applications in the case study were performed through an external internship at the IMDEA Energy Institute (Spain). The data on alternatives is gathered based on the results of the simulation of the chemical process by Aspen plus@ at the IMDEA Energy Institute for suitable parameters of the current supply chain. The sustainability and circularity indicators methodology framework and case study developed during this PhD research project have been published in international journals and conference proceedings. The results of the application and details of the decision support system are present in this thesis. The results of calculating indicators for all indicators show that global warming potential (GWP) is 1.21E+03 ton CO2eq/yr to 55.7E+03 ton CO2eq/yr. Meanwhile, rice straw's acidification potential (AP) in this study ranges from 9.66 tonnes of SO2 eq/yr to 563 tonnes of SO2 eq/yr. The internal rate of return (IRR) of the rice straw supply chain is from 5.92% to 11.3%. In addition, the net present value (NPV) of the case study ranges from 0.72 to 5.79 million euros. Furthermore, the rate of informal labour is from 71.9% to 82.10%, while the percentage of recycling rate out of all waste is from 96.61% to 99.2%, the circular material use is from 54.8% to 88.2%, and the proportion of material losses in primary material is from 14.61% to 15.5%. The ranking results indicate that the digestate pyrolysis option has the best sustainability and circularity points among the other options.This PhD project research shows that the application of a comprehensive approach encompassing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC), and Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) to identify sustainability indicators brings about significant advantages to the biomass supply chain. Existing research seldom integrates all three methodologies simultaneously. This integrated approach enhances the understanding of sustainability implications across the biomass supply chain, paving the way for a more holistic assessment.Moreover, the utilization of the Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) tool and Material Flow Analysis (MFA) for circularity indicators introduces a novel dimension to the existing literature. The incorporation of these tools instills confidence in simulating both circularity and sustainability, a consideration often overlooked in previous studies. The resulting circularity and sustainability indicators offer a standardised set that serves as a step-by-step guide for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and transitioning to a circular economy, aligning with the European Commission's roadmap.The development of a Decision Support System (DSS) methodology framework marks another crucial contribution, particularly by integrating circularity and sustainability within a unified framework for biomass companies in the supply chain. Unlike existing frameworks, this approach employs the PROMETHEE II and Entropy methods, leveraging life cycle results to enhance reliability and streamline calculations. Overcoming the limitations of PROMETHEE, this framework incorporates a multiple-criteria decision-making approach to address trade-offs in sustainability and circularity alternatives. This not only improves the robustness of the framework but also extends its applicability to general companies beyond the biomass sector.Furthermore, the accompanying software in this study presents a more practical and potent DSS tool for ranking alternatives. Its flexibility, allowing the use of the DSS tool for calculating sustainability and circularity indicators for individual alternatives, provides users with a versatile platform. The ability to choose indicator groups and methods for weighting indicators enhances the adaptability of the framework, making it applicable in various scenarios for policymakers and researchers committed to advancing circular economy and sustainability initiatives. In summary, based on methods for application, methodology framework and useful software, the DSS tool developed in this thesis can be used to support companies in the biomass supply chain, managers, practitioners, policy-makers, and researchers in assessing and selecting alternatives for application of CBMs to transfer into CE

DEVELOPMENT OF A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR COMPANIES IN THE ENERGY FROM BIOMASS AREA, APPLYING CIRCULAR ECONOMY PRINCIPLES WITH A LIFE CYCLE THINKING APPROACH

The biomass supply chain (BSC) for energy production has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional fossil fuels, playing a crucial role in mitigating climate change and promoting sustainable development. Biomass utilisation offers numerous environmental, economic, and social benefits, including reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, enhanced energy security, and job creation in rural areas, which are known as important aspects of sustainable development. Moreover, the use of waste, by-products, and residue in BSC is essential to improving the circular economy (CE) in agriculture, wood, and paper processing industries, as well as waste treatment and management. Therefore, to further harness the potential of biomass energy production in sustainability and transition to the CE context, it is significant for companies in the BSC to apply circular business models (CBM).While the role of biomass in the CE has been confirmed, the gap still exists in evaluating the application of CE to the BSC. Up to the authors’ knowledge, currently, there is no set of circularity and sustainability indicators as standard for the company in the BSC. The variety of CE approaches and indicators makes it difficult to convert linear business models into circular ones. In addition, the variety of biomass materials, differences in biomass processing technology and multiple end-products lead to transformation into a CE model in many alternatives with many stages and different technology processes. Furthermore, some indicators assessing aspects of sustainability and circularity of different alternatives are subject to conflict and trade-offs. A more sustainable solution might not necessarily be better in terms of circularity and similar trade-offs exist within the pillars of sustainability. Given the trade-offs between sustainability and circularity, decision support systems (DSS) based on life cycle thinking with a standard set of indicators are promising tools for evaluating and selecting the best alternative of sustainability and circularity BSC.For what is above, this PhD research project was focused on developing a decision support system for a biomass company in the energy sector based on CE and sustainability models with a life cycle thinking approach. With the CE and sustainability model, a set of circularity and sustainability indicators is developed, and it is considered a criteria set to assess the circularity and sustainability of biomass companies and BSC. The life cycle thinking approach is employed to provide a comprehensive assessment for BSC. It is also basic to collect data from BSC and give value to indicators for assessing and ranking alternatives. The trade-off existing in alternatives is solved by using Multiple-criteria decision-making methods. That is integrated into the methodology framework of the decision support system.The PhD research project is structured around two main objectives. First, from CE and sustainability models, a set of circularity and sustainability is development. Secondly, a DSS tool is created. The set of developed indicators considers various stages during the BSC, such as feedstock plantation, processing, transportation, energy conversion, and end-of-life management, being aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the EC’s guidelines on the transition to CE. Meanwhile, the creation of a DSS includes proposing a methodology framework for DSS, creating software in MATLAB GUI and Script as a new tool for DSS, and applying this tool to the rice straw supply chain as testing for the case study.Regarding the case study, a rice straw supply chain for energy production in the Pavia region of Italy is selected. The data for the case study was collected during the internship period at the ENI company, such as parameters of the plant and process. The current of the rice straw supply chain is assessed by the DSS tool, and a re-edited version of this tool was taken. The alternatives of CE applications in the case study were performed through an external internship at the IMDEA Energy Institute (Spain). The data on alternatives is gathered based on the results of the simulation of the chemical process by Aspen plus@ at the IMDEA Energy Institute for suitable parameters of the current supply chain. The sustainability and circularity indicators methodology framework and case study developed during this PhD research project have been published in international journals and conference proceedings. The results of the application and details of the decision support system are present in this thesis. The results of calculating indicators for all indicators show that global warming potential (GWP) is 1.21E+03 ton CO2eq/yr to 55.7E+03 ton CO2eq/yr. Meanwhile, rice straw's acidification potential (AP) in this study ranges from 9.66 tonnes of SO2 eq/yr to 563 tonnes of SO2 eq/yr. The internal rate of return (IRR) of the rice straw supply chain is from 5.92% to 11.3%. In addition, the net present value (NPV) of the case study ranges from 0.72 to 5.79 million euros. Furthermore, the rate of informal labour is from 71.9% to 82.10%, while the percentage of recycling rate out of all waste is from 96.61% to 99.2%, the circular material use is from 54.8% to 88.2%, and the proportion of material losses in primary material is from 14.61% to 15.5%. The ranking results indicate that the digestate pyrolysis option has the best sustainability and circularity points among the other options.This PhD project research shows that the application of a comprehensive approach encompassing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC), and Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) to identify sustainability indicators brings about significant advantages to the biomass supply chain. Existing research seldom integrates all three methodologies simultaneously. This integrated approach enhances the understanding of sustainability implications across the biomass supply chain, paving the way for a more holistic assessment.Moreover, the utilization of the Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) tool and Material Flow Analysis (MFA) for circularity indicators introduces a novel dimension to the existing literature. The incorporation of these tools instills confidence in simulating both circularity and sustainability, a consideration often overlooked in previous studies. The resulting circularity and sustainability indicators offer a standardised set that serves as a step-by-step guide for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and transitioning to a circular economy, aligning with the European Commission's roadmap.The development of a Decision Support System (DSS) methodology framework marks another crucial contribution, particularly by integrating circularity and sustainability within a unified framework for biomass companies in the supply chain. Unlike existing frameworks, this approach employs the PROMETHEE II and Entropy methods, leveraging life cycle results to enhance reliability and streamline calculations. Overcoming the limitations of PROMETHEE, this framework incorporates a multiple-criteria decision-making approach to address trade-offs in sustainability and circularity alternatives. This not only improves the robustness of the framework but also extends its applicability to general companies beyond the biomass sector.Furthermore, the accompanying software in this study presents a more practical and potent DSS tool for ranking alternatives. Its flexibility, allowing the use of the DSS tool for calculating sustainability and circularity indicators for individual alternatives, provides users with a versatile platform. The ability to choose indicator groups and methods for weighting indicators enhances the adaptability of the framework, making it applicable in various scenarios for policymakers and researchers committed to advancing circular economy and sustainability initiatives. In summary, based on methods for application, methodology framework and useful software, the DSS tool developed in this thesis can be used to support companies in the biomass supply chain, managers, practitioners, policy-makers, and researchers in assessing and selecting alternatives for application of CBMs to transfer into CE

Organizational-economic mechanism of management innovative development of economic entities: collective monograph

The authors of the book have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to effectively use modern approaches the management of innovative development the economic entities in order to increase the efficiency of activity, to ensure competitiveness, to intensify innovation activity. Basic research focuses on assessing the innovation processes, the fourth generation of new industrial revolution, diagnosis of sources of innovation financing, assessment of social innovations. The research results have been implemented in the different models of development innovation management, renewable energy, introduction of start-up projects and lifelong learning. The results of the study can be used in decision-making at the level the economic entities in different areas of activity and organizational-legal forms of ownership, ministries and departments that promote of development the economic entities on an innovative basis. The results can also be used by students and young scientists in modern concepts and mechanisms for management of innovative development the economic entities in the context of efficient use the resource potential and improvement of innovation policy

An Empirical Analysis to Control Product Counterfeiting in the Automotive Industry\u27s Supply Chains in Pakistan

The counterfeits pose significant health and safety threat to consumers. The quality image of firms is vulnerable to the damage caused by the expanding flow of counterfeit products in today’s global supply chains. The counterfeiting markets are swelling due to globalization and customers’ willingness to buy counterfeits, fueling illicit activities to explode further. Buyers look for the original parts are deceived by the false (deceptive) signals’ communication. The counterfeiting market has become a multi-billion industry but lacks detailed insights into the supply side of counterfeiting (deceptive side). The study aims to investigate and assess the relationship between the anti-counterfeiting strategies and improvement in the firm’s supply performance within the internal and external supply chain quality management context in the auto-parts industry’s supply chains in Pakistan

Multikonferenz Wirtschaftsinformatik (MKWI) 2016: Technische Universität Ilmenau, 09. - 11. März 2016; Band II

Übersicht der Teilkonferenzen Band II • eHealth as a Service – Innovationen für Prävention, Versorgung und Forschung • Einsatz von Unternehmenssoftware in der Lehre • Energieinformatik, Erneuerbare Energien und Neue Mobilität • Hedonische Informationssysteme • IKT-gestütztes betriebliches Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement • Informationssysteme in der Finanzwirtschaft • IT- und Software-Produktmanagement in Internet-of-Things-basierten Infrastrukturen • IT-Beratung im Kontext digitaler Transformation • IT-Sicherheit für Kritische Infrastrukturen • Modellierung betrieblicher Informationssysteme – Konzeptuelle Modelle im Zeitalter der digitalisierten Wirtschaft (d!conomy) • Prescriptive Analytics in I

Collected Papers (on Neutrosophics, Plithogenics, Hypersoft Set, Hypergraphs, and other topics), Volume X

This tenth volume of Collected Papers includes 86 papers in English and Spanish languages comprising 972 pages, written between 2014-2022 by the author alone or in collaboration with the following 105 co-authors (alphabetically ordered) from 26 countries: Abu Sufian, Ali Hassan, Ali Safaa Sadiq, Anirudha Ghosh, Assia Bakali, Atiqe Ur Rahman, Laura Bogdan, Willem K.M. Brauers, Erick González Caballero, Fausto Cavallaro, Gavrilă Calefariu, T. Chalapathi, Victor Christianto, Mihaela Colhon, Sergiu Boris Cononovici, Mamoni Dhar, Irfan Deli, Rebeca Escobar-Jara, Alexandru Gal, N. Gandotra, Sudipta Gayen, Vassilis C. Gerogiannis, Noel Batista Hernández, Hongnian Yu, Hongbo Wang, Mihaiela Iliescu, F. Nirmala Irudayam, Sripati Jha, Darjan Karabašević, T. Katican, Bakhtawar Ali Khan, Hina Khan, Volodymyr Krasnoholovets, R. Kiran Kumar, Manoranjan Kumar Singh, Ranjan Kumar, M. Lathamaheswari, Yasar Mahmood, Nivetha Martin, Adrian Mărgean, Octavian Melinte, Mingcong Deng, Marcel Migdalovici, Monika Moga, Sana Moin, Mohamed Abdel-Basset, Mohamed Elhoseny, Rehab Mohamed, Mohamed Talea, Kalyan Mondal, Muhammad Aslam, Muhammad Aslam Malik, Muhammad Ihsan, Muhammad Naveed Jafar, Muhammad Rayees Ahmad, Muhammad Saeed, Muhammad Saqlain, Muhammad Shabir, Mujahid Abbas, Mumtaz Ali, Radu I. Munteanu, Ghulam Murtaza, Munazza Naz, Tahsin Oner, ‪Gabrijela Popović‬‬‬‬‬, Surapati Pramanik, R. Priya, S.P. Priyadharshini, Midha Qayyum, Quang-Thinh Bui, Shazia Rana, Akbara Rezaei, Jesús Estupiñán Ricardo, Rıdvan Sahin, Saeeda Mirvakili, Said Broumi, A. A. Salama, Flavius Aurelian Sârbu, Ganeshsree Selvachandran, Javid Shabbir, Shio Gai Quek, Son Hoang Le, Florentin Smarandache, Dragiša Stanujkić, S. Sudha, Taha Yasin Ozturk, Zaigham Tahir, The Houw Iong, Ayse Topal, Alptekin Ulutaș, Maikel Yelandi Leyva Vázquez, Rizha Vitania, Luige Vlădăreanu, Victor Vlădăreanu, Ștefan Vlăduțescu, J. Vimala, Dan Valeriu Voinea, Adem Yolcu, Yongfei Feng, Abd El-Nasser H. Zaied, Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas.‬