THE ROLE OF BOUNDARY OBJECTS AND BOUNDARY SPANNING IN DATA WAREHOUSING – A RESEARCH-IN-PROGRESS REPORT

Data warehouse projects bring together different communities of practice, with the primary objective of producing one body of information which is capable of comparative advantages in business analysis. Due to the number of involved communities and the complexity of their collaboration, data warehouse projects are costly. In this paper we give a closer look at communication problems on boundaries between participating data warehouse projects’ communities. Our analysis enlightens the potential relation between the early creation of language communities of the involved communities and lowering data warehouse project development costs. As today, there is hardly any methodology available for analyzing and aligning mutual understanding between data warehouse project participants. In this paper, we propose a data warehouse development scheme for project improvement based on our discussion as a first step in a design science project

BROKERING SITUATIONS IN DATA WAREHOUSE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

Data Warehouse (DWH) projects bring together different communities of practice to create one body of knowledge and help increase the competitive advantages of companies. In this paper we concentrate on the role of DWH professionals as a spanning community in DWH development projects. We argue that each time DWH professionals engage in a spanning activity towards neighboring communities of practice, representatives from these communities take spanning roles as well. As a result, a brokering situation resides within the social structure created by bridging multiple communities together, building a brokering community. In order to observe the roles of DWH professionals within these brokering situations more closely, we conducted interviews with experienced DWH professionals in two interconnected phases. Based on the results gathered, we argue that the selection of the community’s representatives with experience in the boundary communities can improve brokering situations

The Role of Brokering Situations in Data Warehouse Development: Creating Knowledge Fit with Brokers and Boundary Objects

Due to their complex nature, data warehouse (DWH) development projects often fail or significantly exceed budgets. Prior literature has revealed that achieving common understanding in the requirements elicitation phase is a key factor for the successful knowledge transfer and overall success of information systems (IS) development. To closer observe these phenomena, we conducted in-depth interviews with participants of several DWH projects. We propose the concept of \u27brokering situations\u27 to examine social interactions between project stakeholders and we analyze multiple brokering situations in reported DWH projects. Brokering situations help to understand the time-dependent development of brokers, the boundary objects, and their relations with regard to knowledge transfer. We augment Carlile’s (2004) classification of the boundary objects according to boundary complexity and development time. We discovered that in case of a low knowledge fit between project participants, involvement of a \u27knowledgeable\u27 broker seems important

Boundary Interactions and Motors of Change in Requirements Elicitation: A Dynamic Perspective on Knowledge Sharing

The building of shared understanding between project stakeholders in the requirements elicitation phase is necessary for knowledge sharing and a key factor for successful information systems (IS) development. However, the processes that lead to shared understanding and successful knowledge sharing are still not well understood. We examine how stakeholders interact and use boundary objects during requirements elicitation in data warehouse development projects. We draw on Carlile’s (2004) framework for managing knowledge across boundaries and introduce the concept of brokering situations. Using the concept of brokering situations, we examine how shared understanding develops and knowledge is shared through the interplay of brokers, their individual knowledge, and boundary objects as well as through the alignment of project participants’ situation models. We contribute to the literature on knowledge sharing and requirements elicitation in three ways: by introducing the concept of brokering situations; by developing a theoretical framework – the boundary interaction framework – that provides an analytical perspective on the dynamics of knowledge sharing in requirements elicitation; and by applying the framework to show that both goal-driven (teleological) and conflict-driven (dialectical) motors of change explain process progress and the changes of brokers as well as boundary objects during the building of shared understanding

Green Logistics development and evaluation of the carbon footprint

Along with the worldwide climate changing, human activities and the rapid deterioration of the environment, Low-carbon economy in recent years become increasingly focus of attention in people's lives. The economic reform will gradually penetrate into the logistics system, modern logistics as a composite service industry, play a decisive role in the modern division of labor and cooperation under the social environment, it is a manufacturing! The important supporting business is an important bridge between production and consumption. The logistics industry is in a period of rapid development, the logistics process not only energy consumption demand is big, and the C02 emissions are also large. Coupled with the destruction of the human living environment, the greenhouse effect becomes more and more prominent, more the need of the development of green logistics, low carbon logistics. However, at home and abroad for most of the research of this aspect is still stay in the stage of qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis of the literature on energy consumption and C02 emission of less amount of logistics system. There are four objectives will be discussed. The first objective is the relevant literature on the green logistics is summarized, which lays the foundation for the research in this paper, green logistics. The second objective is the energy consumption and C02 calculation models were summarized, to provide reference for other scholars to conduct relevant research. The third objective is through statistical analysis, master the different modes of transport energy consumption and C02 emissions, and provide the basis for enterprises to choose the mode of transport. The fourth objective combining with specific examples, analyzed the carbon footprint of the logistics process instance modeling based on LCA.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

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

Exploratory and Exploitative Knowledge Sharing in Interorganizational Relationships

A growing body of research investigates the role that organizational learning plays in generating superior firm performance. Researchers, however, have given limited attention to this learning effect in the context of long-term interorganizational relationships. This paper focuses on a specific aspect of learning, that is, explorative and exploitative knowledge sharing, and examines its impacts on sustained performance. We examine interorganizational design mechanisms and digitally-enabled knowledge representation as antecedents of knowledge sharing. The empirical context is dyadic relationship between a supply chain solutions vendor and its customers for two major classes of supply chain services. Our theoretical predictions are tested by using data collected from both sides of this customer-vendor dyad. The findings suggest that dual emphasis on exploration and exploitation is important for sustained relationship performance for customers. The customer evaluates balancing exploration and exploitation important whereas the vendor emphasizes only on exploitation

Exploratory and Exploitative Knowledge Sharing in Interorganizational Relationships

A growing body of research investigates the role that organizational learning plays in generating superior firm performance. Researchers, however, have given limited attention to this learning effect in the context of long-term interorganizational relationships. This paper focuses on a specific aspect of learning, that is, explorative and exploitative knowledge sharing, and examines its impacts on sustained performance. We examine interorganizational design mechanisms and digitally-enabled knowledge representation as antecedents of knowledge sharing. The empirical context is dyadic relationship between a supply chain solutions vendor and its customers for two major classes of supply chain services. Our theoretical predictions are tested by using data collected from both sides of this customer-vendor dyad. The findings suggest that dual emphasis on exploration and exploitation is important for sustained relationship performance for customers. The customer evaluates balancing exploration and exploitation important whereas the vendor emphasizes only on exploitation

The social reality of initiatives which pursue insight from data

While (big) data promises immense opportunity, initiatives focused on using data to pursue insight have mixed outcomes. The Management Support Systems (MSS) model summarises what we currently understand within Information Systems (IS) about the implementation and use of systems to improve organisations’ use of data. Adopting an ethnographic approach to observe how practitioners in two contrasting organisations actually generate insight from data, this research challenges the implicit information processing and implementation logics of the MMS model. The pragmatic messiness of pursuing insight is described in two monographs, which reveal the socially constructed nature of data in relation to phenomena, and the importance of data engagement to produce insight. Given that this PhD study also seeks to generate insight from data, it is compared and contrasted reflexively to the two cases observed. While the inquiry logic pursued in this study was made explicit, and was regularly reviewed and challenged, the two cases left this largely implicit. The use of tools is shown to facilitate and constrain inquiry, with related data acting as boundary objects between the different practitioner groups involved. An explanatory framework is presented and used to suggest various enhancements to the MSS model. First, the Problem Space is reframed to reflect the distinct, though interdependent logics involved in inquiry versus realising envisaged benefits from insights. Second, the MSS artefact itself is contextualised and Data Engagement rather than MSS or Tool Use is positioned as central. Third, Data are disentangled from the wider MSS artefact, as a critical, distinct construct. Fourth, an Alignment construct is introduced to address the boundary spanning nature of data initiatives. The thesis also highlights the value of using Wenger’s (1998) Communities of Practice (CoP) situated learning framework to study data initiatives, and the related value of mapping groups as a technique for further development. Some questions are provided for practitioners to gain a better understanding of data initiatives. Wider implications are also noted for the socio-material theorising of Data, and distinguishing between Data, Information and Knowledge concepts within the IS discipline