The enterprises simulation in second life. The case of Perting ltd

The design and evaluation of IT-systems are usually supported by different usability criteria. Our hypothesis is that criteria are predominantly formulated as supporting interaction between a user and an IT-system. We are claiming that there is a need for criteria formulated at higher levels such as communication and business processes. One example of a criterion formulated at the interaction level is “Visibility of system status” and one example of a criterion formulated at the business process level is “Quality of work”. If criteria is formulated and used on the interaction level only, the impact on design and evaluation can only take place at this level. This choice will also mean that you are only able to speculate whether the IT-system is supporting higher levels. We are not saying that criteria belonging to the interaction level are unimportant; rather we are saying that there is a need for formulating complementing criteria that resides on the communication and business process level

Integrating information and knowledge for enterprise innovation

It has widely been accepted that enterprise integration, can be a source of socio-technical and cultural problems within organisations wishing to provide a focussed end-to-end business service. This can cause possible “straitjacketing” of business process architectures, thus suppressing responsive business re-engineering and competitive advantage for some companies. Accordingly, the current typology and emergent forms of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) technologies are set in the context of understanding information and knowledge integration philosophies. As such, key influences and trends in emerging IS integration choices, for end-to-end, cost-effective and flexible knowledge integration, are examined. As touch points across and outside organisations proliferate, via work-flow and relationship management-driven value innovation, aspects of knowledge refinement and knowledge integration pose challenges to maximising the potential of innovation and sustainable success, within enterprises. This is in terms of the increasing propensity for data fragmentation and the lack of effective information management, in the light of information overload. Furthermore, the nature of IS mediation which is inherent within decision making and workflow-based business processes, provides the basis for evaluation of the effects of information and knowledge integration. Hence, the authors propose a conceptual, holistic evaluation framework which encompasses these ideas. It is thus argued that such trends, and their implications regarding enterprise IS integration to engender sustainable competitive advantage, require fundamental re-thinking

Socio-instrumental Design Patterns

This paper draws on pragmatic philosophy and design theory to propose the concept of the socio-instrumental design pattern. These patterns are design theories that acknowledge that solutions are to be found in the source social setting (where design takes place) and the target social setting (where the IT artefact will be embedded and put into action). Solutions may be discussed in terms of what to do and what to focus in the design process, not merely in terms of properties of the IT artefact. Besides introducing the concept, the paper proposes a way to structure socio-instrumental design patterns, and an example pattern is included to illustrate the approach. The example is grounded in empirical data from an ongoing action research project with an emphasis on socio-instrumental qualities of IT artefacts in their social context

Information systems evaluation methodologies

Due to the prevalent use of Information Systems (IS) in modern organisations nowadays, evaluation research in this field is becoming more and more important. In light of this, a set of rigorous methodologies were developed and used by IS researchers and practitioners to evaluate the increasingly complex IS implementation used. Moreover, different types of IS and different focusing perspectives of the evaluation require the selection and use of different evaluation approaches and methodologies. This paper aims to identify, explore, investigate and discuss the various key methodologies that can be used in IS evaluation from different perspectives, namely in nature (e.g. summative vs. formative evaluation) and in strategy (e.g. goal-based, goal-free and criteria-based evaluation). The paper concludes that evaluation methodologies should be selected depending on the nature of the IS and the specific goals and objectives of the evaluation. Nonetheless, it is also proposed that formative criteria-based evaluation and summative criteria-based evaluation are currently among the most and more widely used in IS research. The authors suggest that the combines used of one or more of these approaches can be applied at different stages of the IS life cycle in order to generate more rigorous and reliable evaluation outcomes

Understanding Multi-Organizational Collaboration Using Pragmatic Foundations

Contemporary organizations capability to collaborate is an important competitive advantage and aligning in business networks is an increasingly common business model. Therefore, knowledge regarding characterization of collaboration businesses as well as the structure of business interaction that consists of several dyadic relationships in a multi-actor setting is of growing importance. Understanding such multi-organizational collaboration results in knowledge essential for the coordination of actors and actions involved in the realization of the joint business assignment. In this paper a multi-organizational perspective on collaboration processes is outlined as a pragmatic construction

The influence of patient absorptive capacity and perception of technology characteristics on patients' satisfaction with medical services in Guangzhou, China: an affordance theory based approach

Background: Based on the theory of Affordance, this thesis proposes two analytical dimensions of Subjective Affordance (SA) and Behavioral Affordance (BA).The research aims to explore the influence of patients’ Absorptive Capacity (AC) and Technology Characteristics Perception (TCP) on their SA and BA of the WeChat client-side app in community hospitals so as to further evaluate the SA and BA influence on patients’ satisfaction of medical service (PS). Research subjects are patients who have used the community hospital WeChat client-side information platform in 28 community health service centers in nine districts of Guangzhou in the South of China. A questionnaire with 4 sections and 44 questions was designed and distributed. The effective questionnaire data were checked for descriptive analysis and a path model with 5 observed variables (AC,TCP, SA,BA,PS). was developed. Results: 1. A total of 410 questionnaires was distributed, of which 400 have been collected and 387 of them were valid and analyzed. 2. There is a significant difference among variable scores of patients with different ages and educational background. 3. The group of patients who use the information platform more actively have higher scores in the 5 variables. 4. TCP has a direct influence on PS while BA plays an intermediary role. It was found that the mediation effect of SA is not valid. 5. AC has no direct or indirect influence on PS. Conclusions: Age, educational background, and TCP (evaluation of the innovation characteristics of technology) play an important role in the final implementation of technology application behavior (BA), and the effective application of technology can indeed improve satisfaction with the medical services (PS)Tendo por base a teoria da Affordance, esta tese analisa duas dimensões desta teoria: a Affordance subjetiva (AS) e a Affordance comportamental (AC). A investigação tem por objetivo estudar a influência da Capacidade de Absorção (CA) e da Percepção das Características Tecnológicas (PCT) na AS e na AC dos pacientes estudados em relação à utilização da aplicação Wechat como plataforma de informação e fornecimento de serviços em Centros de Saúde, a fim de avaliar em que medida a AS e a AC influenciam a sua satisfação com os serviços médicos (SP). Os sujeitos do estudo são pacientes que utilizaram a aplicação WeChat na sua interação com Centros de Saúde. Foi administrado um questionário contendo quatro partes e um total de 44 questões em 28 destes centros localizados em 9 distritos da cidade de Cantão no sul da China. Os dados foram depois analisados tendo sido concebido um modelo com base nas 5 variáveis observadas (AS, AC, CA, PCT e PS). Resultados: 1. Dos 410 questionários distribuídos recolheram-se 400 dos quais 387 foram considerados válidos para análise; 2. Os resultados revelaram que existe uma diferença significativa entre os pacientes de diferentes idades e diferente formação académica; 3. O grupo de pacientes que mais utiliza a aplicação tem valores mais altos nas cinco variáveis analisadas; 4. A PCT tem uma influência direta na SP enquanto que a CA desempenha um papel mediador. Os resultados demonstraram ainda que o efeito moderador da AS não se verifica; 5. A AC não tem qualquer influência direta ou indireta na SP. Conclusões: A idade, a formação académica e a PCT (percepção das características inovadoras da tecnologia) desempenham um papel importante na Affordance Comportamental (AC) e a utilização efetiva da tecnologia pode contribuir para melhorar a satisfação dos pacientes com os serviços médicos (SP)