Taking a New-Generation Manager Perspective to Develop Interface Designs

Digital natives are increasingly populating organizations’ management. As they have higher expectations with respect to IS accommodating their (non-functional) user preferences, interfaces of management support systems (MSS) are becoming more important. We develop design guidelines for new MSS interfaces from a new-generation manager perspective. We compile a set of requirements from a literature review and based on a multiple-case study we synthesize five guidelines: (1) use sparklines to present information at a glance and complement them with tooltips to access details, (2) support economic value-added concepts as a “must-have” and be aware that self-service predictive analyses make them more valuable, (3) draw managers’ attention to critical events in real-time by sending notifications to their smart devices, (4) to harvest the knowledge of different users, integrate collaboration capabilities into MSS interface designs, (5) align different information media with managers’ device selection and do not forget their mobile offline use situations

Situational Management Support Systems: Accommodating the Growing Range ofWorking Styles, Use Cases, and Access Modes

Digital natives increasingly populate organizations' management. These new-generation managers more naturally accept management support systems (MSS), but also have higher expectations about how they should accommodate their individual user preferences. As a result, managers question MSS that have been developed without configuration mechanisms to accommodate their working style, relevant MSS use cases, and different MSS access modes. The objective of this article is to reveal managers' different MSS use situations and propose levers for tailoring (conceptual) MSS design to them. Use situations generalize classes of similar user-group preferences. We first apply findings from a literature review to cluster managers' user-group preferences into 36 MSS use situations. Second, we propose that the selection of end-user devices can serve as a main lever for MSS configuration. Third, we complete the configuration with a MSS user-interface design. Finally, we demonstrate utility of our configuration model by presenting and evaluating a prototyp

Developing an Intervention Toolbox for the Common Health Problems in the Workplace

Development of the Health ↔ Work Toolbox is described. The toolbox aims to reduce the workplace impact of common health problems (musculoskeletal, mental health, and stress complaints) by focusing on tackling work-relevant symptoms. Based on biopsychosocial principles this toolbox supplements current approaches by occupying the zone between primary prevention and healthcare. It provides a set of evidence-informed principles and processes (knowledge + tools) for tackling work-relevant common health problems. The toolbox comprises a proactive element aimed at empowering line managers to create good jobs, and a ‘just in time’ responsive element for supporting individuals struggling with a work-relevant health problem. The key intention is helping people with common health problems to maintain work participation. The extensive conceptual and practical development process, including a comprehensive evidence review, produced a functional prototype toolbox that is evidence based and flexible in its use. End-user feedback was mostly positive. Moving the prototype to a fully-fledged internet resource requires specialist design expertise. The Health ↔ Work Toolbox appears to have potential to contribute to the goal of augmenting existing primary prevention strategies and healthcare delivery by providing a more comprehensive workplace approach to constraining sickness absence

Accommodating User-Group Characteristics to Improve the Acceptance of Executive Information Systems— State of the Art and User-Interface Components for Up Close and Personalized Configuration

In executive information systems (EIS) design, where idiosyncratic users must often be considered, understanding users andtheir preferences is important. Since user interfaces are a highly visible EIS component, they are an important lever for theiracceptance. To accommodate executives\u27 growing range of user preferences, this article develops building blocks for theuser-interface to make up close and personalized EIS possible. As this work represents a first step in a larger researchproject, we conduct a multidisciplinary literature review on how the EIS design process can accommodate user preferences,thus improving EIS acceptance with the right user interface. Based on three findings regarding their design, we proposebuilding blocks for user-interface design covering three clusters of components: information presentation, dialog control, andpredefined functions. Finally, we incorporate their components in an EIS prototype to start evaluating our proposal\u27s utility

LEVERAGING IN-MEMORY TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE THE ACCEPTANCE OF MSS - A MANAGERS´ PERSPECTIVE

Management support systems (MSS) help managers to perform their jobs more efficiently. With in-memory technology, a new IT enabler promises to support managers by benefits ranging from reducing time for MSS data entry and analysis to completing even new topics of analysis. Hence, the present situation is favorable for an MSS redesign applying in-memory apps. Such apps are field-tested and ready-to-use, but from a business perspective they lack impact. Based on findings from a literature review and results from a workshop with an expert focus group validated with one-on-one manager interviews, we propose four initial use situations in which in-memory apps contribute to greater MSS acceptance: (1) In-memory apps should accelerate the MSS response time for both check status and receive an alert. In doing so, they should focus on information from management accounting. (2) By delivering information more timely, in-memory apps should contribute to MSS standard reports and financial closing. (3) In-memory apps should accelerate MSS response time for both ad-hoc analysis and drill-down/drill-through analysis. (4) Leveraging in-memory apps, MSS ad-hoc analysis and drill down/drill-through analysis should become more flexible.

An Investigation of How and Why Managers Use Tablets to Support Decision Making

Managers are very mobile and a large proportion of their work is dealing with decisions. Although many managers use tablet computers in their work, there is little research on tablets’ role in managerial decision support. This study aims to investigate how managers use tablets to support their decision-making and the reasons behind it. Anchoring on Task-Technology Fit theory, interviews were conducted with 17 managers who use tablets for work-related decision-making. The study reveals managers’ tablet usage patterns in terms of location, tablet applications, decision activities and types. This study has also found that a range of tablet characteristics and decision-task characteristics affect managers’ use of tablets to support decision-making at work. This exploratory study contributes to both academia and industry by providing evidence on the tablet decision support area, and affording organisations, tablet vendors and tablet application developers informative findings for further improvement in the provision of tablet-based decision support

International Research Project on Job Retention and Return to Work Strategies for Disabled Workers: Canada

[Excerpt] The International Research Project on Job Retention and Return to Work Strategies for Disabled Workers is an initiative of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Global Applied Research and Information Network on Employment and Training (GLADNET). It reflects ILO and GLADNET joint aims of establishmg a base for cross-national research and strengthening links between research analysis and policy reform in the field of employment of disabled people. The Project is a response to a combination of developments which highlight the need for more effective policies and practices in support of workers whose prospects of remaining in employment are jeopardised by work injury, illness or disability. Persons with disabilities are increasingly claiming rights to stay in work as well as to access employment. Pressures on state budgets, the rising costs of compensation claims and disability benefits, and changes in the structure of the labour market are strengthening policies in favour of job retention and return to work. Enterprises are developing their own strategies to minimise the costs of disability and to retain valued employees. Overall, the balance of responsibility is shifting from the state to the enterprise. Policies and practices to prevent disabled workers from leaving work unnecessarily, and to facilitate rapid return to employment if job loss cannot be prevented, are recent developments in many countries. The cross-national exchange of information on initiatives and their effects is limited. The first aim of this Project has been to gather information about what has been attempted, by whom, for what purposes, in which contexts and to what effects. The second, more ambitious, aim, is to examine the interaction between the various policies and practices, identify dysfunctions, and work towards more coherent and cost-effective strategies for job retention and return to work which might be applied in different national systems. The ultimate objective is to identify strategies which can be put into effect in the workplace

The Changing Corporate Governance Paradigm: Implications for Transition and Developing Countries

The rapidly growing literature studying the relationship between legal origin, investor protection, and finance has stimulated an important debate in academic circles. It has also generated a number of applied research projects and strong policy statements. This paper discusses the implications, in particular for developing and transition countries, from this literature. We conclude that its focus on the plight of small investors is too narrow when applied to these countries. We argue that this group is unlikely to play an important role in most developing and transition countries. External investors may still be crucial, but they are more likely to come in as strategic investors or creditors. The paper also proposes a broader paradigm including other stakeholders and mechanisms of governance in order to better understand the problems facing these countries and generate policy implications that compensate for the weaknesses of capital markets.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39648/3/wp263.pd

Organisational Memory and Innovation Across Projects: Integrated Service Provision in Engineering Design Firms

This paper provides an exploration of the dynamics of organisational remembering in firms operating through projects. The paper focuses in particular on the deliberate use of experience accumulated in the past in order to sustain innovation in the provision of services. It relies on the notions of boundary objects and brokers to empirically explore how a common memory crossing occupational and organisational boundaries is built. In so doing, it highlights how a boundary object as memory device in a project environment operates at different levels, i.e. personal, project-specific, organisational-specific and occupational specific, and how it takes different formats to perform its roles at each level. Finally, the paper highlights the role of specific communities, beyond that of specific individuals, as boundary brokers.project development, innovation processes, organisational memory, boundary brokers

The Changing Corporate Governance Paradigm : Implications for Transition and Developing Countries

The rapidly growing literature studying the relationship between legal origin, investor protection, and finance has stimulated an important debate in academic circles. It has also generated a number of applied research projects and strong policy statements. This paper discusses the implications, in particular for developing and transition countries, from this literature. We conclude that its focus on the plight of small investors is too narrow when applied to these countries. We argue that this group is unlikely to play an important role in most developing and transition countries. External investors may still be crucial, but they are more likely to come in as strategic investors or creditors. The paper also proposes a broader paradigm including other stakeholders and mechanisms of governance in order to better understand the problems facing these countries and generate policy implications that compensate for the weaknesses of capital markets.corporate governance; corporate law; economic transition; economic development