Alter ego, state of the art on user profiling: an overview of the most relevant organisational and behavioural aspects regarding User Profiling.

This report gives an overview of the most relevant organisational and\ud behavioural aspects regarding user profiling. It discusses not only the\ud most important aims of user profiling from both an organisation’s as\ud well as a user’s perspective, it will also discuss organisational motives\ud and barriers for user profiling and the most important conditions for\ud the success of user profiling. Finally recommendations are made and\ud suggestions for further research are given

ICT-driven interactions: on the dynamics of mediated control

Interactions driven by Information Communications Technologies (ICT) have gained significant acceptance and momentum in contemporary organisational settings, this is illustrated by their massive adoption and varied deployment across the various levels of an organisation’s hierarchy. ICTs such as mobile telephones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), videoconferencing, BlackBerries and other forms of portable and immovable computing technologies provide enduring bases for mediated interactions in human activities. This thesis looks into the dynamics of ICT-driven interactions and, distinctively, focuses on the manifestations and implications of mediated control in a collaborative environment. The study draws on the concept of administrative behaviour which leads to the observation that the nature of mediated control is not static, but evolutionarily dynamic that springs from highly unpredictable contexts of work. Thus, interactions driven by ICTs influence and change the dynamics of mediated control against the background of the rhythm, structure and direction of an organisation’s purposeful undertakings. Findings indicate, quite paradoxically, that networks set up through the instrumentality of technology mediated interaction discourage domination and inspire individual discretion in spite of their promise of electronic chains. The analysis reflects the notion that mediated control is not only about the predetermination of targets that are attained at the subordinate level. Indeed, the study advocates a fundamental conceptualisation of mediated control as double-sided concept, integrating the use of discretion that, occasionally, makes subordinates drive and initiate key control techniques that steer organisational life. Therefore, through the application of philosophical hermeneutics for a rigorous data interpretation, this study develops an innovative and holistic understanding of mediated control which not only adds to, but also extends, the current organisational perception of control by the incorporation of discretion and, in the process, makes a distinctive contribution to scholarship

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Formulation and Implementation of Environmental Strategies in Printing Firms: A Comparison between the U.S. and Germany

This thesis will guide the reader through the investigation process of a research area previously ignored in the research literature: the formulation and implementation of environmental strategies in printing companies. It will address strategies in printing firms, primarily from a cultural and structural point of view, which are formulated and implemented to help protect the environment and to save resources. The investigation will include a review of previous literature regarding strategy, environmental management and technology, and health and safety management. It will introduce the research questions, the methodology, and the analysis of research findings. Through the exploratory case study method, the researcher will show how some printing companies integrate environmental protection within their strategic decision process. The researcher investigated two small and two large printing firms in the U.S. and Germany to learn how company size and cultural background influence environmental strategy formulation and implementation processes. In addition, the researcher wanted to know about the individual competitive context, adapted by Porter and Kramer (2002) that influences each firm in its strategic decision-process. The analysis of the four case studies shows that the environmental strategies of printing companies differ, depending on each individual company and the competitive forces it faces. Though the history of each firm\u27s environmental strategy development is distinctive, all four companies succeeded in creating a competitive edge, gaining a range of common and in some cases individual benefits. Some key factors driving the firms\u27 strategic decision-making processes kept reappearing in the studies: organizational structure, ownership, location, company size, and the history and cultural background of the company. The factor conditions turned out to be the most important element of the competitive context for all four cases. This involves particularly leadership and personal commitment of the members of the firm (employees, the chairman of the board, the CEO, or the mother organization). The demand conditions seemed to be more important to the small firms than to the large firms investigated. All four companies concentrated on process improvements and the resulting increased efficiency and saved resources, thereby reducing environmental impact and saving costs. From the strategy focus and competitive context of each firm it was possible to ascertain its strategy type: emergent or deliberate. Both small firms deliberately use their environmental stance, and thus have formal strategies. The large firms have an informal feel to their environmental initiatives. The overall goal of this thesis research was to provide the printing industry with valuable information regarding the adoption of environmental strategies. The investigator hoped to help close the gap in the printing literature and to encourage more printing companies to start integrating environmental issues in their strategic decisions in order to become more competitive and socially responsible businesses