Modellgestützte Dokumentation und Integration von Managementsystemen

Im Sinne einer nachhaltigen und ganzheitlichen Firmenentwicklung lässt sich in der Unternehmenslandschaft ein Trend in Richtung einer kontinuierlichen Erweiterung des unternehmerischen Zielsystems beobachten. Neben etablierten Aspekten, wie dem Qualitätsmanagement und der Arbeitssicherheit, erlangen weitere Themen, wie beispielsweise das betriebliche Umwelt- und Energiemanagement, zunehmend an Bedeutung. Um die Berücksichtigung dieser Aspekte nachzuweisen, steht Unternehmen die Möglichkeit zur Zertifizierung nach funktionsspezifischen Managementsystemnormen offen. Die Einführung und Dokumentation entsprechender Managementsysteme erweist sich jedoch als ein zeitintensiver Prozess, dessen Schwierigkeit vor allem in der unternehmensspezifischen Interpretation der allgemein formulierten Normanforderungen liegt. Strebt ein Unternehmen die Zertifizierung nach mehreren Managementsystemnormen an, so eröffnet sich die Möglichkeit zur Integration der Managementsysteme. Allerdings sind auch die Aufgaben der Integration durch verschiedene Herausforderungen gekennzeichnet, die den Bedarf nach einer systematischen Unterstützung verdeutlichen. Im Bereich der Wirtschaftsinformatik haben sich konzeptuelle Modelle als Instrument zur zielorientierten und verständlichen Beschreibung komplexer Informationssysteme etabliert. Entsprechende Modelle können die Durchdringung und Kommunikation komplexer Sachverhalte durch eine zweckmäßige Abstraktion und Strukturierung vereinfachen und eine Überführung in Anwendungssoftware vorbereiten. Für die vorliegende Dissertation leitet sich unter Berücksichtigung dieser Aspekte folgende zentrale Forschungsfrage ab: Wie kann die konzeptuelle Modellierung bei den Aufgaben der Dokumentation und Integration standardisierter Managementsysteme unterstützen? Der Forschungsmethode des Design Science Research folgend, präsentiert die vorliegende Arbeit funktionsspezifische und funktionsunspezifische Artefakte, die bei der Dokumentation standardisierter Managementsysteme und deren Integration modellbasiert unterstützen. Die Anwendbarkeit der Artefakte wird anhand eines realen Anwendungsfalls demonstriert. Die Ausführungen der vorliegenden Arbeit basieren auf einer Analyse der Anforderungen nach ISO 9001 für Qualitätsmanagementsysteme, ISO 14001 für Umweltmanagementsysteme, ISO 50001 für Energiemanagementsysteme, OHSAS 18001 für Arbeitsschutz- und Arbeitssicherheitsmanagementsysteme sowie des durch die Internationale Organisation für Standardisierung veröffentlichten Annex SL

Preserving Jewellery Created from Plastics and Rubber: Application of Materials and Interpretation of Objects

The adoption of plastics and rubber to artist jewellers’ repertoire of materials in the late 1960s marks a significant and permanent alteration to the artist jewellery discipline. Since this time the physical and conceptual possibilities of plastics have fuelled and enabled developments in this artistic field. Since the early 1970s museums and private collections have continually acquired artist jewellery created from plastic. Some of these artworks are now exhibiting change or deterioration. Discussion and debate regarding their preservation is a pressing need. To date, whilst there has been recent research into the deterioration of plastic materials found in cultural heritage, almost no published work or debate has addressed artist jewellery specifically. This research positions plastic artist jewellery within the expanding discipline of modern materials conservation and aims to raise awareness of preserving plastic jewellery artworks. The prevalent plastics in use for artist jewellery, their properties and importantly application, to create artistic intent, are identified. Current attitudes of custodians and artists towards preservation, which has a bearing on the past and future prospects of the artworks, are analysed. Despite not having articulated their opinion previously, many jewellery artists have considered the long term prospects of their work as part of their artistic practice. As change and deterioration of the artworks is inevitable the impact of change to jewellery artworks is considered. Understanding how material properties are applied to create intent, as identified, is essential to comprehend meaning and any alterations as a result of change. Finally, having deliberately drawn artists into the preservation debate the nature of their input is considered. Should jewellery artists intervene in their own work when treatment is required? The research is from a humanities rather than scientific perspective and is concerned with objects and their interpretation in the context of preservation. The artworks are the starting point and their context as jewellery objects is the primary concern. Oral testimony of artists is also crucial to draw the artists into the preservation process as stakeholders and because jewellery artists are hitherto unrecorded in this context. What is demonstrated throughout the thesis is that the wearable function of jewellery has a bearing on their perception and interpretation as objects

Implementing ERPII in customer facing organisations, an investigation of critical success factors

There has been a growing trend for customer facing organisations (CFOs) to turn to highly demanding information systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) in order to improve their interaction with customers. ERPII has the specific capabilities to deliver extended enterprise opportunities; however there have been widespread accounts of implementation failure leading to costly delays and even on occasion, bankruptcy. There is a lack of research available to business practitioners in terms of how to deliver a successful implementation in these situations and this research aims to address this issue. To achieve this, research has been undertaken using critical success factor (CSF) analysis. A case study was undertaken comprising of a project team placement within an ERPII implementation environment and follow-up interviews with the project team members were undertaken. In addition, a third piece of empirical research was undertaken consisting of interviews with consultant practitioners of supplier organisations. This research shows that CFOs implementing ERPII require specific CSFs to be addressed at different points within the implementation lifecycle. ‘Critical pathway steps’ have been recommended which emphasise the importance of post implementation training

Crafting the wearable computer: Design process and user experience

The purpose of the research described in this thesis was to develop a design methodology for Wearable Computing concepts that could potentially embody authenticity. The Wearables community, still firmly rooted in the disciplines of engineering and ergonomics, had made clear its aspirations to the mainstream market (DeVaul et al 2001). However, at this point, there was a distinct lack of qualitative studies on user perceptions of Wearable products. A review of the market research literature revealed significant consumer demand for authenticity in goods and services, and it was this need that drove the program of research.The researcher’s experience as a contemporary jeweller led her to question the positivist design processes of Wearable Computers. The ‘borg’-like aesthetics that had come to characterise these products reflected their origins in the laboratory, and implicit configurations of the user appeared to be acting as a barrier to wider adoption. The research therefore looked to Craft as a creative process with a fundamentally different working philosophy to begin building a new methodology for Wearables.Literature reviews of authenticity and Craft were conducted to provide the theoretical framework necessary for a practice-led enquiry into the design process. Further empirical work was undertaken in the form of the comfortBlanket, a concept design project, and a small survey of makers to provide a set of protocols for craft informed design processes. Following this, a suite of wirelessly networked jewellery was designed for a friendship group of five retirement aged women, and built in collaboration with the Speckled Computing Consortium, Scotland.The user centred methodology is informed by Actor Network Theory to account for the agency of the researcher and the event of task based analyses, and includes lifeworld analysis techniques drawn from a range of disciplines such as psychology and experimental Interaction Design.Three data sets collected over the course of two years were analysed using Grounded Theory, and a novel visualisation tool was developed to illustrate potential commitment to the novel concept designs. The methodology revealed a story of what the women made of the jewellery, how they enacted these understandings, and where this process took place. It was found that evaluating concept designs for the everyday and for authenticity require different approaches and that the design process does not end with the user, but with a reflexive analysis by the designer or researcher. In many respects the proposed methodology inverts standard design practices, presenting as many questions as it seeks to resolve.The methodology is presented as a contribution to emerging communities of practice around Wearable Computing, and to those developers seeking to position their products in the everyday. It is a challenging process that embodies authenticity in its post-structural treatment of functionality, the user and evaluation. Finally, the implemented wireless jewellery network represented the first application of Speckled Computing, and it is anticipated that the theoretical frameworks arrived at will also be of interest to Interaction Design and Contemporary Craft