SOA Adoption Phases - A Case Study

The paper argues that attitudes to SOA follow a typical hype cycle from Technological Trigger, Peak of Inflated Expectations, and a Trough of Disillusionment to the more recent realization that SOA is a concept that may offer certain benefits but has several limitations. Themain research question studies how the attitude to SOA changes in various phases of the hype cycle, how the SOA implementation cycle and an increase in business process maturity (BPMa) are interconnected and which factors influence the transition between the hype cycle phases. The paper shows that an organization’s success with implementing SOA depends on its ability to match the SOA implementation with an increase in BPMa. The dual purpose of implementing SOA is shown in the first framework: to assure the coherence of IT assets and to assure business/IT alignment. In the second framework, the interconnection of SOA and BPMa and its role in transiting through the hype cycle phases is outlined. The findings are analyzed using a longitudinal case study of a large Slovenian company

A Lean Enterprise Architecture Approach as an Enabler for Organizational Agility : Case: Metso Outotec

In the era where delivery speed is perceived more important than IT landscape integration, consistency and long-term planning, different architectural approaches have become important considerations of information systems management. Moreover, recent studies have shown that the need for a holistic EA is often overlooked, when organizations try to apply agile development models, which may lead to several problems, such as technical debt, redundant rework, inconsistent communication, decentralized and siloed architecture design, unsustainable architecture, and inconsistence in coding style. Hence, with the growing deployment of scaling agile methods there is a need for purpose-fit approaches to integrate EA frameworks to enable organization agility while maintaining long-term vision. This study aims to explore how EA activities are put into practices in a company deploying large-scale agile development methods – namely EA deliverables, EA benefits, EA concerns and EA enablers. In total, 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted from a case company, and an analysis was done using the Gioia method. As a result, EA deliverables (business objective deliverables, intentional architecture deliverables, and emergent design deliverables), EA benefits (organizational agility and organizational robustness), EA concerns (immaturity, disengagement, urgency, and resistance and anti-patterns), and EA enablers (communication and collaboration, Lean EA, and EA culture) were identified. The enterprise architecture practices used by the case company were in line with the guidelines and best practices recommended by the literature and industry experts. Moreover, a literature review provided some theoretical constructs and suggestions, namely the Lean EA development (LEAD) method and the design principles of architectural thinking for supporting organizational agility, which can be recommended to be applied by the case company or any other organization scaling agile

Mergers and Acquisitions - Elaborating Factors for Enterprise Interoperability in an ERP context

In this paper, the authors discussed Enterprise Interoperability (EI) in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) transactions focusing on ERP systems. Essential connections to practice are drawn through a discussion of use cases with experts from the fields of M&A, IT, and ERP. The research questions are defined as: What are the core influencing factors determining interoperability profiles? What will the future look like regarding the ERP dimension? Based on eleven experts and qualitative content analysis, relevant findings on EI implementation scenarios are extracted. There are different approaches to achieve Enterprise Interoperability, depending on the context of the M&A transaction. Finally, the crucial decision factors are given in the findings and show the future development of ERP systems integrations. Current results suggest that fast and easy EI is a critical requirement to meet the increasing need for flexibility and ERP systems are at the core of these developments

Business/IT alignment during a post merger integration

Alignment between an Information Technology (IT) function and the organisation it serves is the process that drives successful investments in the effective and efficient use of IT to reduce internal and external business costs, and to create a competitive edge. Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) have a high impact on the organisations involved and the stressful post-merger integration process often includes anxiety, restructuring, and a new corporate identity, all of which create a high degree of uncertainty for those involved. This research project considers the subject of Business/IT alignment within the time-frame of a post-merger IT integration. Within this period of great change the IT function needs to plan and execute a complex project that joins together the Information Systems (IS), IT infrastructure, and IT staff of two companies, while balancing the needs of the Business to take advantage of the positives, and avoid the negatives of its new position. Specifically this study examines the key factors relating to Business/IT alignment at a tactical level that contribute to a successful IT integration, using a case study of a single manufacturing business unit, adding to the knowledge of the IT governance subject. i A key alignment criterion and two individual alignment factors\were identified from the case study as supporting Business and IT strategies during a post-merger IT integration

IT Leadership in Transition - The Impact of Digitalization on Finnish Organizations

Digitalization is transforming business models across industries. As information technology (IT) is becoming embedded in products and services, IT leadership has an increasingly dualistic role in supporting the organization and also serving its customers' changing needs. The ACIO research program studied how Finnish industry and public sector organizations utilize information technology in developing and managing critical business capabilities. The focus was on understanding and analyzing contemporary approaches to IT leadership. This research report summarizes some of the key research findings, providing scholars and practitioners with insights into and understanding of digitalization and changes in IT leadership in Finnish informationintensive organizations

A system dynamics approach to the information technology outsourcing problems

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-95).by Pei Wang.S.M

Aerospace mergers and acquisitions from a lean enterprise perspective

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-95).In the past twenty years, companies in the aerospace industry experienced major transitions: mergers and acquisitions, and lean transformation initiatives. This thesis presents research about the relation of lean efforts and mergers and acquisitions. It is based on case studies of mergers and acquisitions undertaken by Boeing Company. In order to obtain supplementary research data, case studies were also developed regarding the mergers and acquisitions of Vought Aircraft and United Technologies Corp. These different cases focus on mergers and acquisitions between companies at varying levels of lean maturity. For example, the merger between Boeing and McDonnell Douglas is between companies at a similar level of lean maturity, while Vought's acquisition of Aerostructure required integration between a low-level lean company and a company with more advanced lean initiatives. The thesis provides detailed discussion of the changes that occurred after the mergers or acquisitions in terms of lean effort, barriers and solutions to lean transition during the integration process, and changes in the rate of lean efforts during and after the merger or acquisition. The research concludes that leadership, communications, and education are pivotal to successful lean transition during the integration process. Lean offices and Process Councils, generally part of a structured lean effort, facilitate the process. The difference in level of lean maturity was not a big factor during the early stage of a merger or acquisition, but different levels of lean maturity, as well as lean expertise, had important impacts in later stages of the integration process.by Junhong Kim.S.M

Going Beyond Operations with Enterprise Systems

Enterprise Systems have become the preferred type of IT systems in most large organizations in the last few decades. These, large-scale, integrated, packaged software suites have been shown to enable operational efficiency by several prior studies .This paper reviews a number of such studies and identifies a gap in the literature. The primary contribution of this paper is that it proposes that Enterprise Systems can create business value, in addition to operational efficiency, by achieving innovation (in product, process and alliance) and enabling better strategic decision making in the adopting firms. The paper also provides empirical evidence using detailed secondary data that supports this proposition. In addition, this study also provides additional evidence for concepts identified in earlier research. This paper reports on the first study of a research-in-progress and this model will be tested further through extensive primary case studie

Information Technology Platforms: Definition and Research Directions

The concept of an information technology (IT) related platform is broad and covers phenomena ranging from the operating system Linux to the Internet. Such platforms are of increasing importance to innovation and value creation across many facets of industry and daily life. There is, however, a lack of common understanding in both research and industry about what is mean by the term platform when related to IT. This lack of consensus is detrimental to research and knowledge development. Thus, the aims of this study are to: (i) provide a sound definition of the IT-platform concept by identifying its distinguishing dimensions; and (ii) identify important current research directions for the IT-platform concept. To achieve these aims a systematic literature review was undertaken with 133 relevant articles taken from major information systems journals, conferences, and business publications. The study contributes by providing a sound base for future research into IT-platforms.Comment: Research-in-progress ISBN# 978-0-646-95337-3 Presented at the Australasian Conference on Information Systems 2015 (arXiv:1605.01032