Classification of information systems research revisited: A keyword analysis approach

A number of studies have previously been conducted on keyword analysis in order to provide a comprehensive scheme to classify information systems (IS) research. However, these studies appeared prior to 1994, and IS research has clearly developed substantially since then with the emergence of areas such as electronic commerce, electronic government, electronic health and numerous others. Furthermore, the majority of European IS outlets - such as the European Journal of Information Systems and Information Systems Journal - were founded in the early 1990s, and keywords from these journals were not included in any previous work. Given that a number of studies have raised the issue of differences in European and North American IS research topics and approaches, it is arguable that any such analysis must consider sources from both locations to provide a representative and balanced view of IS classification. Moreover, it has also been argued that there is a need for further work in order to create a comprehensive keyword classification scheme reflecting the current state of the art. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to present the results of a keyword analysis utilizing keywords appearing in major peer-reviewed IS publications after the year 1990 through to 2007. This aim is realized by means of the two following objectives: (1) collect all keywords appearing in 24 peer reviewed IS journals after 1990; and (2) identify keywords not included in the previous IS keyword classification scheme. This paper also describes further research required in order to place new keywords in appropriate IS research categories. The paper makes an incremental contribution toward a contemporary means of classifying IS research. This work is important and useful for researchers in understanding the area and evolution of the IS field and also has implications for improving information search and retrieval activities

Corporate strategy revisited: A view from complexity theory

Despite its long tradition and well known contributions, corporate strategy research is yet far from being mature. This paper proposes an innovative framework that approaches the field from the theoretical perspective provided by complexity theory. We propose to see the corporate level of the organization as the driver, pacer and framer of the overall firm's evolution process. Drive is provided by the cognitive representation of the corporate fitness landscape that is implicit in the firm's corporate plan. Pacing is a consequence of the kind of strategic initiatives ("search strategy") developed by the company. Framing is achieved through the architectural design that the corporate level implements for the firm.corporate strategy; complexity theory; self-organizing;

Understanding requirements engineering process: a challenge for practice and education

Reviews of the state of the professional practice in Requirements Engineering (RE) stress that the RE process is both complex and hard to describe, and suggest there is a significant difference between competent and "approved" practice. "Approved" practice is reflected by (in all likelihood, in fact, has its genesis in) RE education, so that the knowledge and skills taught to students do not match the knowledge and skills required and applied by competent practitioners. A new understanding of the RE process has emerged from our recent study. RE is revealed as inherently creative, involving cycles of building and major reconstruction of the models developed, significantly different from the systematic and smoothly incremental process generally described in the literature. The process is better characterised as highly creative, opportunistic and insight driven. This mismatch between approved and actual practice provides a challenge to RE education - RE requires insight and creativity as well as technical knowledge. Traditional learning models applied to RE focus, however, on notation and prescribed processes acquired through repetition. We argue that traditional learning models fail to support the learning required for RE and propose both a new model based on cognitive flexibility and a framework for RE education to support this model

Key Environmental Innovations

This paper is based on empirical research on a taxonomy of technological environmental innovations. It draws on a databank with over 500 examples of new technologies (materials, products, processes and practices) which come with benign environmental effects. The approaches applied to interpreting the datasets are innovation life cycle analysis, and product chain analysis. Main results include the following: 1. Innovations merely aimed at eco-efficienc y do in most cases not represent significant contributions to improving the properties of the industrial metabolism. This can better be achieved by technologies that fulfill the criteria of eco-consistency (metabolic consistency), also called eco-effectiveness. 2. Ecological pressure of a technology is basically determined by its conceptual make-up and design. Most promising thus are technologies in earlier rather than later stages of their life cycle (i.e. during R&D and customisation in growing numbers), because it is during the stages before reaching the inflection point and maturity in a learning curve where technological environmental innovations can best contribute to improving ecological consistency of the industrial metabolism while at the same time delivering their maximum increase in efficiency as well.3. Moreover, environmental action needs to focus on early steps in the vertical manufacturing chain rather than on those in the end. Most of the ecological pressure of a technology is no rmally not caused end-of-chain in use or consumption, but in the more basic steps of the manufacturing chain (with the exception of products the use of which consumes energy, e.g. vehicles, appliances). There are conclusions to be drawn for refocusing attention from downstream to upstream in life cycles and product chains, and for a shift of emphasis in environmental policy from regulation to innovation. Ambitious environmental standards, though, continue to be an important regulative precondition of ecologically benign technological innovation.Technological innovation, Environmental innovation, Life cycle analysis, Sustainability strategies, Environmental policy

Kultivating Kultur: increasing arts research deposit

This paper presents research undertaken as part of the JISC-funded Kultivate project and discusses how it is encouraging arts research deposit in UK institutional repositories. It presents an overview of the current arts research repository landscape in the UK at time of writing (September 2011). Through community engagement with the Kultur II Group and technical enhancements to EPrints, Kultivate is sharing and supporting the application of best practice in the development of institutional repositories that are appropriate to the specific needs and behaviours of creative and visual arts researchers. The Kultur II Group is open to all specialist creative arts institutions, departments within larger multidisciplinary institutions, and researchers in the UK; members include repository managers and administrators, researchers, librarians, technical staff, academics, and research office staff

Rapid International Expansion Strategy of Emerging Market Enterprises: The Interplay between Speed and Competitive Risks on International performance

Firms that internationalize relatively late may pursue rapid internationalization by entering multiple markets simultaneously to reach global scale faster and to capture early mover advantages. These trends run counter to the theory of incremental internationalization. With data on Korean firms' early international expansion experiences, we found evidence that a rapid international expansion strategy enhances firm performance in industries where globalization pressures are high, by firms with less lead-time of their home-country rivals, and in countries where they could be early movers.incremental internationalization, rapid international expansion strategy, emerging markets, foreign subsidiary survival, foreign direct investment

Shape from Shading through Shape Evolution

In this paper, we address the shape-from-shading problem by training deep networks with synthetic images. Unlike conventional approaches that combine deep learning and synthetic imagery, we propose an approach that does not need any external shape dataset to render synthetic images. Our approach consists of two synergistic processes: the evolution of complex shapes from simple primitives, and the training of a deep network for shape-from-shading. The evolution generates better shapes guided by the network training, while the training improves by using the evolved shapes. We show that our approach achieves state-of-the-art performance on a shape-from-shading benchmark