(I) A Declarative Framework for ERP Systems(II) Reactors: A Data-Driven Programming Model for Distributed Applications

To those who can be swayed by argument and those who know they do not have all the answers This dissertation is a collection of six adapted research papers pertaining to two areas of research. (I) A Declarative Framework for ERP Systems: • POETS: Process-Oriented Event-driven Transaction Systems. The paper describes an ontological analysis of a small segment of the enterprise domain, namely the general ledger and accounts receivable. The result is an event-based approach to designing ERP systems and an abstract-level sketch of the architecture. • Compositional Specification of Commercial Contracts. The paper de-scribes the design, multiple semantics, and use of a domain-specific lan-guage (DSL) for modeling commercial contracts. • SMAWL: A SMAll Workflow Language Based on CCS. The paper show

Service-oriented control architecture for reconfigurable production systems

Evolvable and collaborative production systems are becoming an emergent paradigm towards flexibility and automatic re-configurability. The reconfiguration of those systems requires the existence of distributed and modular control components that interact in order to accomplish control activities. This paper focuses on service-oriented production systems, which behavior is regulated by the coordination of services that are provided and required by control components with different roles. Internally, these components are independent of the implementations, but an internal modular and event based structure is presented. Individual control and interaction is achieved by using embedded or inter-service control processes for which High-Level Petri Nets are proposed. Supporting the predefined control, decision support systems are used to provide conflict resolution and other decision-making functions

Implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in a major construction contracting organization in Hong Kong

Purpose &ndash; The purpose of this paper is to summarize the scope, methodology and main findings of a doctoral thesis about the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in a major construction contracting organization in Hong Kong. This research is taken from a leadership and power and project management (PM) perspective.Design/methodology/approach &ndash; The project adopted a case study approach in which the candidate was an employee/observer, who was embedded as a member of the business transformation team taking an action learning approach to study the ERP adoption. The research used the soft system methodology to identify gaps in the observed maturity level which exists in the organization. Data was gathered using public and private documentation, semi-structured interviews, observation and was validated through review of evidence with participants.Findings &ndash; The results identified the importance of leadership and cultural issues in implementation of the business strategy. This research includes a contribution in two spheres: PM and construction procurement. The first implication for PM theory was to illustrate how knowledge has been efficiently managed within a construction organization by using information communication technology (ICT). It can be represented by the ladder of ICT&gt;ERP&gt;KM&gt;PM. The second implication was to pave the way for the use of partnering strategies in PM practice. It can be represented by the ladder of National Culture&gt;Organizational Culture&gt;Leadership&gt;Partnering Strategy&gt;PM.Practical implications &ndash; This model could be adapted to other large and complex organisational contexts. The research project also has implications as opening up a PM perspective on business transformation.Originality/value &ndash; The contribution of this research is proving the success of adopting KM in a construction company by using an ERP system. The importance of culture in the traditionally collectivistic construction industry, and the issues senior management should take into account when formulating business strategies.<br /

Implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in a major construction contracting organization in Hong Kong

Purpose &ndash; The purpose of this paper is to summarize the scope, methodology and main findings of a doctoral thesis about the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in a major construction contracting organization in Hong Kong. This research is taken from a leadership and power and project management (PM) perspective.Design/methodology/approach &ndash; The project adopted a case study approach in which the candidate was an employee/observer, who was embedded as a member of the business transformation team taking an action learning approach to study the ERP adoption. The research used the soft system methodology to identify gaps in the observed maturity level which exists in the organization. Data was gathered using public and private documentation, semi-structured interviews, observation and was validated through review of evidence with participants.Findings &ndash; The results identified the importance of leadership and cultural issues in implementation of the business strategy. This research includes a contribution in two spheres: PM and construction procurement. The first implication for PM theory was to illustrate how knowledge has been efficiently managed within a construction organization by using information communication technology (ICT). It can be represented by the ladder of ICT&gt;ERP&gt;KM&gt;PM. The second implication was to pave the way for the use of partnering strategies in PM practice. It can be represented by the ladder of National Culture&gt;Organizational Culture&gt;Leadership&gt;Partnering Strategy&gt;PM.Practical implications &ndash; This model could be adapted to other large and complex organisational contexts. The research project also has implications as opening up a PM perspective on business transformation.Originality/value &ndash; The contribution of this research is proving the success of adopting KM in a construction company by using an ERP system. The importance of culture in the traditionally collectivistic construction industry, and the issues senior management should take into account when formulating business strategies.<br /

A Resource-Based Perspective on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Capabilities and Upgrade Decision

The complexities in making an enterprise resource planning (ERP) upgrade decision have been widely cited in the trade press. As a consequence, a significant percentage of ERP clients deferring the upgrade decision is resulted. Yet, to date we observe paucity of research with which to conceptualize and explain the important factors influencing ERP upgrade decision. This study attempts to explain the rationales behind the upgrade decision (regardless for short- or long-term) using the resource-based view (RBV). The hypotheses derived from the theoretical perspective are proposed and the research method is discussed

Multi Agent Systems in Logistics: A Literature and State-of-the-art Review

Based on a literature survey, we aim to answer our main question: “How should we plan and execute logistics in supply chains that aim to meet today’s requirements, and how can we support such planning and execution using IT?†Today’s requirements in supply chains include inter-organizational collaboration and more responsive and tailored supply to meet specific demand. Enterprise systems fall short in meeting these requirements The focus of planning and execution systems should move towards an inter-enterprise and event-driven mode. Inter-organizational systems may support planning going from supporting information exchange and henceforth enable synchronized planning within the organizations towards the capability to do network planning based on available information throughout the network. We provide a framework for planning systems, constituting a rich landscape of possible configurations, where the centralized and fully decentralized approaches are two extremes. We define and discuss agent based systems and in particular multi agent systems (MAS). We emphasize the issue of the role of MAS coordination architectures, and then explain that transportation is, next to production, an important domain in which MAS can and actually are applied. However, implementation is not widespread and some implementation issues are explored. In this manner, we conclude that planning problems in transportation have characteristics that comply with the specific capabilities of agent systems. In particular, these systems are capable to deal with inter-organizational and event-driven planning settings, hence meeting today’s requirements in supply chain planning and execution.supply chain;MAS;multi agent systems

Sustainability in Model-based Planning and Control of Global Value Creation Networks

Manufacturing companies are affected by an increasing complexity driven thru fast changing requirements in the global market. To meet the large catalogue of requirements, enterprises are forming global value creation networks and provide services jointly. The existing time pressure and the involvement of many stakeholders results in a demand of methods and tools for a quick configuration of such networks. Beside the management of material, information and money flows the quest of a sustainable corporate development poses a further challenge for the decision makers. The consideration of sustainability in business process management is one approach to take also social, economic and environmental aspects within global value creation networks into account. Reviewing existing modelling techniques shows that the requirements for a fast configuration and an adequate management of sustainability are just insufficiently addressed or are raising the complexity further. This paper will explore capabilities of an enterprise modelling technique which supports an integrated handling of network configuration and sustainability management in a fast and efficient manner.DFG, 199828953, SFB 1026: Sustainable Manufacturing - Globale Wertschöpfung nachhaltig gestalte

A Technology Proposal for a Management Information System for the Director’s Office, NAL.

This technology proposal attempts in giving a viable solution for a Management Information System (MIS) for the Director's Office. In today's IT scenario, an Organization's success greatly depends on its ability to get accurate and timely data on its operations of varied nature and to manage this data effectively to guide its activities and meet its goals. To cater to the information needs of an Organization or an Office like the Director's Office, information systems are developed and deployed to gather and process data in ways that produce a variety of information to the end-user. MIS can therefore can be defined as an integrated user-machine system for providing information to support operations, management and decision-making functions in an Organization. The system in a nutshell, utilizes computer hardware and software, manual procedures, models for analysis planning, control and decision-making and a database. Using state-of-the-art front-end and back-end web based tools, this technology proposal attempts to provide a single-point Information Management, Information Storage, Information Querying and Information Retrieval interface to the Director and his office for handling all information traffic flow in and out of the Director's Office

Towards a Theory of Agile Dashboards for Service Oriented Organizations

Research on the agile and adaptive enterprise promotes real time dashboards as a powerful tool to provide coordination and control. Recent trends in market volatility have led firms to restructure around what organizational theorists term an “adhocracy”. Service oriented architecture represents an emerging architectural mechanism to align an organization’s processes with the flexible structure of such an organizational form. A theory of dashboard creation and implementation that addresses the organizational characteristics of an adhocracy (as exposed through the formalism of a service oriented architecture) is needed in order to develop a grounded methodology for dashboard creation and implementation that targets the coordination and control requirements of this evolving organizational structure. This research seeks to provide such a theoretical foundation grounded in the context of two diverse case studies. Cementing a theory base for dashboard creation and implementation helps to formalize the role of dashboards in service oriented organizations and provides the first step towards developing a methodology for dashboard design and use in an agile environment

E-CITY KNOWWARE: KNOWLEDGE MIDDLEWARE FOR COORDINATED MANAGEMENT OF SUSTAINABLE CITIES

The realization of e-city is a necessary component for achieving the green city. This paper outlines a vision for an e-city platform that is based on knowledge brokerage in the green city. The proposed platform will be a venue for creating dynamic virtual organizations to harness collective intelligence of knowledge hubs to analyze and manage sustainability knowledge in urban areas. Knowledge assets of participating organizations will be presented in three dimensions: process structures, human profile and software systems. These three facets of knowledge will be accessible and viewable through a self-describing mechanism. Cities can post their geospatial and real-time data on the net. Relevant environmental and energy-use data will be extracted using topic maps and data extraction services. Local decision makers can synchronize work processes (from participating hubs) to create an integrated workflow for a new ad hoc virtual organization to collaboratively analyze the multifaceted nature of sustainable decision making. An e-city platform is envisioned in this paper that will be realized through intelligent, agent-like, domain-specific middleware (KnowWare). Through triangulation between people, software and processes, these KnowWare will discover, negotiate, integrate, reason and communicate knowledge (related to energy and environment) from across organizations to the right person at the right time. KnowWare is fundamentally, a portal of social semantic services that resides on a cloud computing infrastructure. Knowware exploits thee main tools: 1) existing ontologies to represent knowledge in a semantic manner, 2) topic maps to profile sources of knowledge and match these to the complex needs of sustainability analysis, 3) domain-specific middleware for knowledge integration and reasoning