Towards Information Systems Design for Value Webs

In this paper we discuss the alignment between a business model of a value web and the information systems of the participating companies needed to implement the business model. Traditional business-IT alignment approaches\ud focus on one single company, but in a value web we are dealing with various independent businesses. Since a value web is actually a web of services, delivered by IT systems owned by different companies, to ensure alignment we need to\ud specify the services and their properties and then map them on the available IT support in the different companies. Such mappings have to be evaluated in terms of their impact on the profitability of participating in the value web of the different companies. We propose techniques to map services to IT support and show how to do commercial trade-offs

Formalization of the partnering structure for networked businesses

Rapidly changing market demands and increasing competitive pressure cause many businesses implement changes to the way they conduct business. One of these changes is the decision to collaborate with other businesses, forming what we call a 'networked business'. Networked businesses are formed by different organizations working together to reach a common goal. For the participating organizations in a networked business to be able to promptly react to their customers' needs, they must set up as cornerstone a well-defined collaborative partnering structure. In this report we discuss the partnering structure of networked businesses and present a framework for its formalization. Using a case study, we illustrate that existing approaches for value modeling, roles specification, and responsibilities definition can be used successfully if employed in a unifying way to address this structure concept

Perspective: Technology Management in the Service Sector

This paper reports out of the symposium on \u27Technology Management in the Service Sector\u27 which was held as a part of Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology in 2007. The objectives of the symposium were: to explore how technology management research and education can contribute to the evolving field of services science, management and engineering; to define a research agenda for the field of engineering and technology management that addresses the critical needs of the evolving service economy and to discuss needed funding structures and programs to foster service oriented research. We tackled these issues in two ways. First, the key leaders from academia, industry and government presented the critical issues and challenges that presently exist. Then, small groups analysed the selected topics in depth. We identified three main components of service science: value, people and technology, and explored how researchers in the field of technology management would tackle this new phenomenon

SCIENCES SERVICES, MANAGEMENT AND ENGINEERING: ONE ANSWER TO THE EMERGENT SERVICES SECTOR

The sector services are already the most important in the economy of the developed societies. In spite of it, the discussion on the professional management goes very late regarding the social and economic necessities of the organizations and the society. As part of this society, the University needs to elaborate answers to the demands of this emergent sector. At the beginning of this century a combined university and managerial discussion originated an academic new discipline: "Science, management and engineering of the services (SSME). In this work the role of the university in the development of this Science is presente

Educating Engineers for the 21st. Century: and why some Elements of History and Philosophy should be Incorporated into the Curriculum

It has been said that in some respects the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky was a magpie – borrowing styles and ideas from diverse sources for whatever musical project he was working on. The practice of engineering has this same characteristic in that it willingly takes ideas, knowledge and techniques from wherever in pursuit of completing its goal. Further, Engineering is, at least in part, in agreement with Fyodor Dostoevsky – ‘if everything on Earth were rational, nothing would happen’. Against such a background it is proposed that a framework based on both philosophy and the history of engineering, science and technology constitutes a valid footing upon which engineers can be enabled to see and develop their profession in a suitably rounded manner

SOCIAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS ENGINEERING: FROM DATA TO KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS

The Information System representation is moving in a conflicting direction with organisations evolution, which have to be more accessible and transparent for the external environment in order to be able to anticipate on the market moves and trends. The existing separated layers between internal users and end products or services users are harmful to the normal business process continuity. With the increasing use of web 2.0 tools and platforms, the complete Information system analysis and design approach has to be rethink in order the include this new fundamental subpart inside of it. Several approaches and disciplines are attempting to resolve this issue varying from the services approach (starting from SOA and ending by the services science) to the knowledge pattern approach (based mainly on Information systems cartography). The social knowledge pattern (SKP) is a set of common behaviour realised by a networked community and based on the knowledge that they are sharing. The SKP are useful for detecting global users trends, formalising the knowledge exchange and to define the existing interactions between the different system users. This paper considers the problem of the knowledge integration through the SKP based on services approach

Philosophy Matters in Engineering Studies

This article explores the rationale for including in an integrated five-years Masters Engineering programme liberal arts subjects, in particular Philosophy and the History of Science and Technology. We argue that the tools of philosophy should be used to provide additional insight into how engineering was and is \u27performed\u27. We first review the challenge, next we present some results of an empirical case study carried out at AU-IBT in Denmark. The purpose of the case study was to examine a sample of engineering teachers´ attitudes towards the relevance and scope of liberal arts subjects for engineering students. Finally we conclude with a proposal for the inclusion of Philosophy and History of Engineering, Science and Technology in an engineering programme and how this might be don