Towards a business-IT alignment maturity model for collaborative networked organizations

Aligning business and IT in networked organizations is a complex endeavor because in such settings, business-IT alignment is driven by economic processes instead of by centralized decision-making processes. In order to facilitate managing business-IT alignment in networked organizations, we need a maturity model that allows collaborating organizations to assess the current state of alignment and take appropriate action to improve it where needed. In this paper we propose the first version of such a model, which we derive from various alignment models and theories

Target value design: using collaboration and a lean approach to reduce construction cost

Target Costing is an effective management technique that has been used in manufacturing for decades to achieve cost predictability during new products development. Adoption of this technique promises benefits for the construction industry as it struggles to raise the number of successful outcomes and certainty of project delivery in terms of cost, quality and time. Target Value Design is a management approach that takes the best features of Target Costing and adapts them to the peculiarities of construction. In this paper the concept of Target Value Design is introduced based on the results of action research carried out on 12 construction projects in the USA. It has been shown that systemic application of Target Value Design leads to significant improvement of project performance – the final cost of projects was on average 15% less than market cost. The construction industry already has approaches that have similarities with elements of the Target Value Design process or uses the same terminology, e.g. Partnering and Target Cost Contracts, Cost planning, etc. Following an exploration of the similarities and differences Target Value Design is positioned as a form of Target Costing for construction that offers a more reliable route to successful projects outcomes

Links in the Knowledge Journey of an Idea to Innovation: A Study in the Context of Development of Customized Cartons

This paper identifies and analyses the links in the knowledge journey of an idea to innovation. It tracks the links in the development of customized cartons for packaging tomatoes. The trigger points for the innovation, the milestones crossed by the innovator, the interaction with agencies and actors in the environment, the interests and responses of the agencies and the actors, and the final outcomes were identified. Based on analysis, it conceptualises a model of knowledge journey and develops suggestions for innovators and innovation associates. The suggestions are in the areas of responding to innovation triggering points, learning and leveraging on what is possible and happening, adapting to the constraints of the innovation associates and building flexible systems and structures.

Towards a better understanding of the e-health user: comparing USE IT and Requirements study for an Electronic Patient Record.

This paper compares a traditional requirements study with 22 interviews for the design of an electronic patient record (EPR) and a USE IT analysis with 17 interviews trying to understand the end- user of an EPR. Developing, implementing and using information technology in organizations is a complex social activity. It is often characterized by ill-defined problems or vague goals, conflicts and disruptions that result from organizational change. Successfully implementing information systems in healthcare organizations appears to be a difficult task. Information Technology is regarded as an enabler of change in healthcare organizations but (information) technology adoption decisions in healthcare are complex, because of the uncertainty of benefits and the rate of change of technology. (Job) Relevance is recognized as an important determinant for IS success but still does not find its way into a systems design process

Towards data-driven culture in a Spanish automobile manufacturer: a case study

Purpose: Data-driven decision-making is a growing trend that lots of companies are nowadays willing to adopt. However, the organizational transformation needed is not always as simple and logical as it could seem and the comfort of the old habits can dim the change effort. The purpose of this study is to identify the potential problems that may arise in a real company’s transformation from a traditional intuition-driven decision-making model to a data-driven model. Design/methodology/approach: In order to reach this goal, a single case study method was used. Initially a literature review was conducted to analyze both the importance of the change to a data-driven culture and the process of organizational change. Thus, a case study method was adopted in a company of the automotive sector that included experimentation in the website design decision-making process. Findings: As a result of the case study, it was found that all the most cited risks for the organizational change process commented in the literature appeared in the project. However, even being warned of potential dangers the specific actions to prevent the damages were not trivial. Originality/value: The study presents in detail, the application of an organizational change model in a company. Important insights can be extracted from the specific case of a digitalization performed inside traditional industrial company.Peer Reviewe

Involving External Stakeholders in Project Courses

Problem: The involvement of external stakeholders in capstone projects and project courses is desirable due to its potential positive effects on the students. Capstone projects particularly profit from the inclusion of an industrial partner to make the project relevant and help students acquire professional skills. In addition, an increasing push towards education that is aligned with industry and incorporates industrial partners can be observed. However, the involvement of external stakeholders in teaching moments can create friction and could, in the worst case, lead to frustration of all involved parties. Contribution: We developed a model that allows analysing the involvement of external stakeholders in university courses both in a retrospective fashion, to gain insights from past course instances, and in a constructive fashion, to plan the involvement of external stakeholders. Key Concepts: The conceptual model and the accompanying guideline guide the teachers in their analysis of stakeholder involvement. The model is comprised of several activities (define, execute, and evaluate the collaboration). The guideline provides questions that the teachers should answer for each of these activities. In the constructive use, the model allows teachers to define an action plan based on an analysis of potential stakeholders and the pedagogical objectives. In the retrospective use, the model allows teachers to identify issues that appeared during the project and their underlying causes. Drawing from ideas of the reflective practitioner, the model contains an emphasis on reflection and interpretation of the observations made by the teacher and other groups involved in the courses. Key Lessons: Applying the model retrospectively to a total of eight courses shows that it is possible to reveal hitherto implicit risks and assumptions and to gain a better insight into the interaction...Comment: Abstract shortened since arxiv.org limits length of abstracts. See paper/pdf for full abstract. Paper is forthcoming, accepted August 2017. Arxiv version 2 corrects misspelled author nam