SUPPORTING FINANCIAL DATA WAREHOUSE DEVELOPMENT: A COMMUNICATION THEORY-BASED APPROACH

Data warehouses increasingly play important roles in the information technology landscape of the financial industry. However, semantic heterogeneity is high in banking – data is defined differently by different banks, business units, and users. Therefore data integration in financial data warehouse development projects relies on the knowledge, know-how, and judgment of human experts. Up to now, methodical support is missing for the communication process among experts that determine and negotiate a shared understanding of requirements. In contrast to ontologydriven or schema-matching approaches proposing the automatic resolution of differences ex-post, we introduce an approach that addresses data integration already in early project phases. Our approach supports developing shared understanding of domain concepts and data fields in financial data warehouse projects, good communication of all participants while the project progresses, and early detection of errors within projects. This way, we prevent problems that result from the ex-post resolution of semantic heterogeneity

When standards is not enough to secure interoperability and competitiveness for European exporters

What is the impact of a Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) on the efficiency and effectiveness of business process standardization (BPS)? The contribution of this paper is the development of a research model around the impact of SOA on BPS in terms of achieving fundamental efficiency and flexibility potentials while covering both the business layer and the IT layer of the firm. Drawing on an accepted and widespread enterprise architecture model, we derive propositions that explain why and how SOA’s characteristics help to standardize business processes and how the interplay between SOA and BPS leads to an increased overall business value. Additional moderator arguments, such as the level of service granularity, the centrality of SOA governance, or Business IT alignment, are added to the research model as critical success factors of achieving business value of SOA

Private sector influence and the international political economy of banking regulation: The formation of the Basel II Accord 1998-2004.

This study undertakes an empirical investigation of private sector influence over transnational financial regulatory policymaking. I examine the relationship between the content, context, and success of private sector attempts to influence the formation of the Basel II Accord between 1998 and 2004. I call these efforts 'private sector campaigns', and engage in an empirical analysis of campaigns organized at both the transnational level and at the national levels in Canada, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The analysis employs a mixed-method research design involving process tracing analysis, fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) and statistical regression analysis. Using extensive primary source material, I test a number of different hypotheses prevalent within relevant academic literatures regarding the specific means that private sector groups use to influence their regulators, as well as the transnational and national pathways by which private sector influence translates into actual regulatory policy change. While I find evidence for a number of important instances of private sector influence over the content of the Basel II Accord, I find that this influence is much more contingent and context-dependent than depictions of 'regulatory capture' in the IPE of finance literature suggest. In particular, the presence of business conflict strongly affects the success of private sector campaigns. Furthermore, I find that while there are a number of necessary conditions that have to be in place for influence to occur, there is no individually sufficient condition for influence. Rather, only a particular combination of conditions is sufficient in generating private sector influence. This particular set of conditions is, however, highly fragile

Die Qualität von Organisationen : ein kommunikationsbasierter Messansatz

The goal of this research is to develop an understanding of what causes organizations and information systems to be “good” with regard to communication and coordination. This study (1) gives a theoretical explanation of how the processes of organizational adaptation work and (2) what is required for establishing and measuring the goodness of an organization with regard to communication and coordination. By leveraging concepts from cybernetics and philosophy of language, particularly the theoretical conceptualization of information systems as social systems and language communities, this research arrives at new insights. After discussing related work from systems theory, organization theory, cybernetics, and philosophy of language, a theoretical conceptualization of information systems as language communities is adopted. This provides the foundation for two exploratory field studies. Then a formal theory for explaining the adaptation of organizations via language and communication is presented. This includes measures for the goodness of organizations with regard to communication and coordination. Finally, propositions stemming from the theoretical model are tested using multiple case studies in six information system development projects in the financial services industry.Zielsetzung der hier vorgestellten Forschung ist es, ein Verständnis für die Güte von Organisationen und Informationssystemen im Hinblick auf Kommunikation und Koordination zu entwickeln. Diese Studie gibt (1) eine theoretische Erklärung zur Funktionsweise organisatorischer Anpassungsprozesse und (2) Handlungsanleitungen zur Messung der Güte einer Organisation im Hinblick auf Kommunikation und Koordination. Dies geschieht durch die Nutzung von Konzepten der Kybernetik und der Sprachphilosophie, insbesondere der Formalisierung von Informationssystemen als soziale Systeme und Sprachgemeinschaften. Nach der Diskussion bestehender Ansätze in der Systemtheorie, der Organisationstheorie, der Kybernetik und der Sprachphilosophie wird die Konzeptualisierung von Informationssystemen als Sprachgemeinschaften übernommen. Diese bildet die Grundlage für zwei explorative Feldstudien. Im Anschluss wird eine Theorie zur Erklärung der Anpassung von Organisationen durch Sprache und Kommunikation vorgestellt. Dies beinhaltet Maße für die Güte von Organisationen im Hinblick auf Kommunikation und Koordination. Schließlich werden anhand dieses theoretischen Modells Hypothesen aufgestellt und in einer multiplen Fallstudie in sechs Informationssystementwicklungsprojekten in der Finanzdienstleistungsindustrie überprüft

Guide to investigating business fraud

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_guides/1354/thumbnail.jp

Sociological institutionalist approach on banks’ lending behavior in Myanmar (Burma)

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyThis is an exploratory study which investigated the process by which banks' lending behaviour in Myanmar (Burma) was influenced by the institutional environment and their responses towards them. The theoretical framework used in this study was primarily drawn upon Scott's new institutional theory. Since the theory focused on the convergent perspective rather than divergent perspective, the theory of Oliver's strategic responses to these institutional pressures, coercive, normative and mimetic, was incorporated in the theoretical framework development. The main method of data collection was interviews. NVIVO was used to analyse these interviewed data. However, descriptive statistics were also used to provide a comprehensive picture of the context being studied. The findings suggest that banks' always attempted to extemalise risks to borrowers. Their responses to institutional pressures were to conform but a range of other forms of resistance were also found. However, strong forms of resistance were uncommon. I have also identified the situations in which the banks would choose either strong or weak forms of resistance to institutional pressures. Such identifications may add understanding to the specific lending strategies that are developed in different circumstances. The study also contributed to closing the gap in banking literature through conducting research in the context of Myanmar, which was previously unexplored. In addition, it suggests areas needed to be improved for financial sector development in Myanmar

Unmet goals of tracking: within-track heterogeneity of students' expectations for

Educational systems are often characterized by some form(s) of ability grouping, like tracking. Although substantial variation in the implementation of these practices exists, it is always the aim to improve teaching efficiency by creating homogeneous groups of students in terms of capabilities and performances as well as expected pathways. If students’ expected pathways (university, graduate school, or working) are in line with the goals of tracking, one might presume that these expectations are rather homogeneous within tracks and heterogeneous between tracks. In Flanders (the northern region of Belgium), the educational system consists of four tracks. Many students start out in the most prestigious, academic track. If they fail to gain the necessary credentials, they move to the less esteemed technical and vocational tracks. Therefore, the educational system has been called a 'cascade system'. We presume that this cascade system creates homogeneous expectations in the academic track, though heterogeneous expectations in the technical and vocational tracks. We use data from the International Study of City Youth (ISCY), gathered during the 2013-2014 school year from 2354 pupils of the tenth grade across 30 secondary schools in the city of Ghent, Flanders. Preliminary results suggest that the technical and vocational tracks show more heterogeneity in student’s expectations than the academic track. If tracking does not fulfill the desired goals in some tracks, tracking practices should be questioned as tracking occurs along social and ethnic lines, causing social inequality

Coming of age: report on the euro area

This report surveys the economic performance of the euro area and gives recommendations about six policy challenges of major importance for the future of EMU.