Designing Sensor-based Predictive Information Systems for Forecasting Spare Part Demand for Diesel Engines

As digital technologies become prevalent and embedded in the environment, "smart" everyday objects like smart phones and smart homes have become part and parcel of the human enterprise. The ubiquity of smart objects, that produce ever-growing streams of data, presents both challenges and opportunities. In this dissertation, I argue that information systems extending these data streams, referred to as "predictive information systems with sensors", can generate added value and will be gaining momentum in academia and in the industry. Subsequently, seeing apparent complexity in designing IS artifacts with such functionality, I introduce a framework for Designing Information Systems with Predictive Analytics (DISPA), extending Design Science Research specifically towards rigorous design of predictive analytics. The framework is evaluated based on a case study of MAN Diesel and Turbo, a lead designer of marine diesel engines generating multiple applicable artifacts in the process. Additionally, the framework exemplification in the case context led to supplementing the framework with a set of Design Principles for Designing Predictive Information Systems as well as a matrix for pre-assessing financial feasibility of predictive information systems with sensor technologies. This work provides a contribution to information systems research, and in particular to design science research, by introducing a model for Designing Information Systems with Predictive Analytics (DISPA) that can serve as a method for developing IS artifacts. The framework constitutes an Information System Design Theory consistent with the established definitions from the literature (Gregor & Jones, 2007; Kuechler & Vaishnavi, 2012; Walls, Widmeyer, & El Sawy, 1992). In addition, the paper introduces and systematically evaluates a number of spare-part forecasting methods, which can be considered a contribution to operations research literature

Understanding Trust in IT Artifacts - A New Conceptual Approach

To add value to companies, IT artifacts – such as information systems – need to be adopted and used. Research and practice have shown that designing IT artifacts in a way that they are readily adopted and used is not trivial. To support designers, research has identified a plethora of factors driving the adoption and use of IT artifacts, with trust being one of the most important factors. Despite this knowledge, research on trust in IT artifact struggles to leverage its potential for IT artifact design, due to several disagreements among scholars. The goal of our paper is to present and reconcile the different competing arguments, and to provide a new conceptual approach to study trust in IT artifacts. The core argument of our approach is that trust is a suitable concept for studying relationships between humans and IT artifact, but trust in an IT artifact should not be studied without examining trust in the provider of the IT artifact. Whereas interpersonal trust theory is suitable to assess trust in the provider of the IT artifact, we propose a new conceptualization for trust in the IT artifact itself. Separately investigating trust in the provider of the IT artifact and trust in the IT artifact itself, will allow researchers to gather a deeper understanding of the nature of trust in IT artifacts and how it can be built. This knowledge will support designers in designing IT artifacts that are more readily adopted and used, and thus can provide the desired value to companies

Information Systems Development as a Social Process: A Structurational Model

Prior research has shown that social interactions are important in order to understand the phenomena involved in information systems development. However, most traditional research largely ignores these issues. DeSanctis and Poole (1994) made an important contribution to the study of social dynamics in information systems research with their Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST). Although the concepts have found broad acceptance for the study of information technology (IT) uses and effects, AST has not been widely used for studying the process of designing IT artifacts and developing information systems. In this paper we transfer AST to studying information systems development as a social process. We build on Markus and Silver\u27s (2008) redefinition of AST’s core concepts ‘structural features’ and ‘spirit’ as technical objects, functional affordances, and symbolic expressions, and we extend them with relational concepts for agents and activities that we derive from social construction of technology (SCOT) studies. The result is an AST-based model that describes the information systems development process. We illustrate and discuss how researchers might use these concepts to generate hypotheses in studies of information systems development processes

An Ethnorelative Framework for Information Systems Design

IT artifacts are connected to our lives in significant and complex ways. The consideration of culture in designing information systems for a global context will become increasingly important. This paper develops the concept of cultural values in relation to information, technology, and people (ITP). In an effort to facilitate a more robust analysis of culture with respect to information systems design, I develop an ethnorelative framework in which designers can begin to assess the “cultural geography” of the target audience in relation to their own. This framework has implications for the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), but it is not focused on the evaluation of user behaviors in terms of perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use, per se. Its goal is to provide a heuristic for designers to understand their own cultural values relative to users of other national cultures

Optimality and limitations of audio-visual integration for cognitive systems

Multimodal integration is an important process in perceptual decision-making. In humans, this process has often been shown to be statistically optimal, or near optimal: sensory information is combined in a fashion that minimizes the average error in perceptual representation of stimuli. However, sometimes there are costs that come with the optimization, manifesting as illusory percepts. We review audio-visual facilitations and illusions that are products of multisensory integration, and the computational models that account for these phenomena. In particular, the same optimal computational model can lead to illusory percepts, and we suggest that more studies should be needed to detect and mitigate these illusions, as artifacts in artificial cognitive systems. We provide cautionary considerations when designing artificial cognitive systems with the view of avoiding such artifacts. Finally, we suggest avenues of research toward solutions to potential pitfalls in system design. We conclude that detailed understanding of multisensory integration and the mechanisms behind audio-visual illusions can benefit the design of artificial cognitive systems.Human-Robot Interactio

How do Individuals Interpret Multiple Conceptual Models? A Theory of Combined Ontological Completeness and Overlap

When analyzing or designing information systems, users often work with multiple conceptual models because each model articulates a different, partial aspect of a real-world domain. However, the available research in this area has largely studied the use of single modeling artifacts only. We develop a new theory about interpreting multiple conceptual models that details propositions for evaluating how individuals select, understand, and perceive the usefulness of multiple conceptual models. We detail implications of our theory development for empirical research on conceptual modeling. We also outline practical contributions for the design of conceptual models and for choosing models for systems analysis and design tasks. Finally, to stimulate research that builds on our theory, we illustrate procedures for enacting our theory and discuss a range of empirically relevant boundary condition

Developing a boundary object model to analyze communication interfaces : applications for system integrators

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-133).Physical information is transferred between technical systems through wires, beams, and other physical attributes, while more intangible information is typically transferred between communities of people through artifacts such as documents, e-mails, etc. This research attempts to characterize these communication interfaces better by analyzing the use of artifacts at these interfaces by means of a boundary object attribute model. Boundary objects, the metric of analysis of this thesis, are artifacts used to bridge information and knowledge gaps between different communities of practice. The US Army's Future Combat System (FCS) was chosen as a case study primarily because of its complex programmatic characteristics. The information gathered in the FCS case study was combined with knowledge from previous boundary object literature to generate an attributes model. Once developed, the boundary object attributes model was validated on the US Air Force Transformational Communications Satellite System (TSAT) program focusing specifically on the TSAT Mission Operations System (TMOS) segment of the program. Data were collected on the frequency and type of resources used to understand information and the dependencies that individuals have with each other for documented information. Furthermore, five communication artifacts were critiqued for their effectiveness as boundary objects. Statistical tests were conducted to highlight trends in resource dependencies and attributes common in effective boundary objects. An implication of this research is that the most important attributes for a boundary object are inclusivity, traceability, and synchronization. This research also found that people generally tend to rely much more on other people for information than artifacts. This introduces problems of exhausting valuable human resources and creating unnecessary bottlenecks.(cont.) A second implication of this research is that spending the extra time and effort to design artifacts with high inclusivity and freshness will add significant value to the overall system. In addition, a third implication of this research is that having the right boundary objects alone is not enough for effective collaborative interfaces. A fourth implication of this research is that designing a boundary object whose form follows its function is critical for its effectiveness. These suggestions can provide relief to a program highly taxing to its human resources and reduce transaction costs of the overall system. Furthermore, this model may be extended for the purpose of determining the roles and responsibilities of system integrators.by Allan Fong.S.M

Competence Management System Design Principles: Action Design Research

In order to sustain competitive advantage, knowledge-intensive project organizations need to invest in competence management systems (CMSs). However, there is only a limited amount of existing scientific literature on designing CMSs in practice. In this action design research from 2013 to 2016 we (1) deepened the theoretical understanding of CMSs by improving the design principles (DPs) identified in earlier research, and (2) delivered business benefits for a case company by designing organizational and technological artifacts for competence management. Previously introduced theoretical concepts guided the organizational and technological interventions that aimed for practical business benefits while maintaining scientific rigor. We revised the CMS DPs and learned the importance of aligning competence management with customer demand and the double-sided value of information assets. In conclusion, our research provides new evidence regarding how ADR can lead to significant business benefits by integrating theory and practice in a real business context