PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE OF IT PROJECT VALUE REALISATION: UNDERSTANDING BENEFITS MANAGEMENT PRACTICES – DO INCENTIVES AND MANAGEMENT SUPPORT REALLY HELP?

Although organisations continue to make substantial investments in information systems and information technology (IS/IT), the successful realisation of value (i.e. benefits) from such investments has consistently been reported as a major organisational challenge. From a project perspective, this paper examines whether benefits management (BM) practices can be considered a viable approach to achieve such anticipated value. Drawing on a field study conducted by investigating BM practices in 29 organisations as well as the BM literature, we derive a structural equation model that is tested using data collected from 456 individuals. Our data analysis, by means of partial least squares, finds that specific BM competencies positively impact benefits realisation success (BRS). Furthermore, the findings suggest that the development of effective BM competencies are facilitated by an alignment of business and IT processes reflected in the constructs a) business process knowledge, and b) business- IT communication. We also find that incentives negatively influence the positive effect of benefits review practices in realising project benefits. Collectively, the results have important theoretical and practical implications, as they provide quantitative evidence of how IS/IT investments should be managed to successfully realise benefits. We expect our research to spur organisations to instil a shared understanding of how IS/IT relates to the business and vice versa within their project teams, which will intensify BM’s positive effect on BRS

Fake News, Real Money: Ad Tech Platforms, Profit-Driven Hoaxes, and the Business of Journalism

Following the viral spread of hoax political news in the lead-up to the 2016 US presidential election, it\u27s been reported that at least some of the individuals publishing these stories made substantial sums of money—tens of thousands of US dollars—from their efforts. Whether or not such hoax stories are ultimately revealed to have had a persuasive impact on the electorate, they raise important normative questions about the underlying media infrastructures and industries—ad tech firms, programmatic advertising exchanges, etc.—that apparently created a lucrative incentive structure for fake news publishers. Legitimate ad-supported news organizations rely on the same infrastructure and industries for their livelihood. Thus, as traditional advertising subsidies for news have begun to collapse in the era of online advertising, it\u27s important to understand how attempts to deal with for-profit hoaxes might simultaneously impact legitimate news organizations. Through 20 interviews with stakeholders in online advertising, this study looks at how the programmatic advertising industry understands “fake news,” how it conceptualizes and grapples with the use of its tools by hoax publishers to generate revenue, and how its approach to the issue may ultimately contribute to reshaping the financial underpinnings of the digital journalism industry that depends on the same economic infrastructure

HOW BENEFITS FROM IS/IT INVESTMENTS ARE SUCCESSFULLY REALIZED: THE ROLE OF BUSINESS PROCESS KNOW HOW AND BENEFITS MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

Although organizations continue to make substantial investments in information systems and information technology (IS/IT), the successful realization of benefits from such investments has consistently been reported as one of the major organizational challenges. From a project perspective, this paper examines whether benefits management (BM) practices can be considered a viable approach to achieve the anticipated benefits. Drawing on resource-based theory (RBT) as well as the BM literature, we derive a structural equation model consisting of eight propositions. These propositions are tested using data collected from 454 projects. Our analysis of the data by means of partial least squares (PLS) finds that BM positively impacts benefits realization success (BRS). Specifically, organizations should acknowledge the importance of (1) benefits analysis, (2) benefits planning, and (3) benefits review when seeking to realize benefits. Furthermore, the findings suggest that benefits analysis is facilitated by the contextual constructs business process knowledge and business/IT communication. We also found a relationship between top management support and the contextual constructs. Collectively, the results have important theoretical and practical implications, as they provide quantitative evidence of how IS/IT investments should be managed to successfully realize benefits. Based on our results, we argue that BM is a basis for the successful realization of benefits. Nevertheless, organizations need to ensure that project teams have sufficient understanding of (1) the IS/IT, (2) the business, and (3) the interaction between IS/IT and the business. The latter is specifically the most challenging and most important competency that a project team can possess. We expect our research to spur organizations to instill a shared understanding of how IS/IT relates to the business and vice versa within their project teams, which will intensify BM’s positive effect on BRS

BENEFITS MANAGEMENT – A LITERATURE REVIEW AND ELEMENTS OF A RESEARCH AGENDA

Benefits Management (BM) deals with the systematic planning, realization and controlling of the intended benefits of IS/IT projects, beyond the traditional success measures of staying within project time frame and budget limits. The article describes the results of a BM literature review that seeks to describe the state-of-science as well as to identify fields of promising further research. Our main findings are that, although the pioneering work of Ward et al. on BM have structured the discipline early on and have been adopted as a basis by other researchers, the research on the BM process itself is still scarce and many opportunities for future research remain open

Understanding Benefits Management Success: Results of a Field Study

The realization of benefits from IS/IT investments has consistently been reported as one of the major challenges of organizations. This paper reports on the findings from an exploratory field study on how benefits management success ultimately contributes to better IS/IT exploitation. A total of 34 semistructured interviews were held within 29 organizations. The study applies resource-based theory to examine the benefits management resources required and the process through which organizations translate such resources into benefits management competencies. The result is a framework offering items under three dimensions to outline how benefits management ultimately contributes to better IS/IT exploitation. The dimensions are: (1) benefits management resources, (2) benefits management capability and (3) contextual factors. The analysis finds that organizations develop benefits management capability in various stages: (1) benefits measurement competency, (2) benefits planning competency, and (3) benefits implementation competency. The results of our study also reveal that resources alone are not sufficient for successful benefits management. Organizations also need to establish the contextual factors: business/IT alignment, integration of benefits management into management processes and top management support

The percutaneous permeation of a combination of 0.1% octenidine dihydrochloride and 2% 2-phenoxyethanol (octenisept®) through skin of different species in vitro

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A water based combination of 0.1% octenidine dihydrochloride and 2% 2 - phenoxyethanol is registered in many European countries as an antiseptic solution (octenisept^®) for topical treatment with high antimicrobial activity for human use, but octenidine based products have not been registered for veterinary use yet. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether octenidine dihydrochloride or 2 -phenoxyethanol, the two main components of this disinfectant, permeate through animal skin <it>in vitro</it>. Therefore, permeation studies were conducted using Franz-type diffusion cells. 2 ml of the test compound were applied onto 1.77 cm²split skin of cats, dogs, cows and horses. To simulate wounded skin, cattle skin was treated with adhesive tapes 100 times, as well. Up to an incubation time of 28 hours samples of the acceptor chamber were taken and were analysed by UV-HPLC. Using the method of the external standard, the apparent permeability coefficient, the flux J_max, and the recovery were calculated. Furthermore, the residues of both components in the skin samples were determined after completion of the diffusion experiment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After 28 hours no octenidine dihydrochloride was found in the receptor chamber of intact skin samples, while 2.7% of the topical applied octenidine dihydrochloride permeated through barrier disrupted cattle skin. 2 - phenoxyethanol permeated through all skin samples with the highest permeability in equine, followed by bovine, canine to feline skin. Furthermore, both components were found in the <it>stratum corneum </it>and the dermis of all split skin samples with different amounts in the examined species.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>For 2-phenoxyethanol the systemic impact of the high absorption rate and a potential toxicological risk have to be investigated in further studies. Due to its low absorption rates through the skin, octenidine dihydrochloride is suitable for superficial skin treatment in the examined species.</p

Die sozioökonomische Bedeutung der Mangelernährung im G-DRG System

Zahlreiche Studien beweisen, dass ein großer Anteil der Krankenhauspatienten mangelernährungsgefährdet ist und dass diese Patienten ein schlechteres Outcome ihrer Krankenhausbehandlung zu erwarten haben. Da Mangelernährungs-Screenings in deutschen Krankenhäusern jedoch keine Pflicht sind, werden diese nur von einzelnen Kliniken durchgeführt. Aufgrund der seltenen Codierung der Diagnose Mangelernährung, kam es in den letzten Jahren zur Abwertung der entsprechenden DRGs. In dieser Studie wurde die Prävalenz der Mangelernährung in einer unfallchirurgischen Patientenkohorte untersucht, sowie die ökonomischen Auswirkungen der Mangelernährungs-Codierung zwischen 2014 und 2016 herausgearbeitet. Hierfür wurden 1372 Patienten, die zwischen Januar 2014 und Juli 2016 auf den Stationen Traumatologie, septische Unfallchirurgie und Endoprothetik der BG-Unfallklinik Tübingen stationär waren, mittels NRS auf das Risiko einer Mangelernährung gescreent. Je nach Definition gilt dabei ein NRS ≥ 3 (NRS-Definition) oder ein NRS ≥ 2 (Reinbold-Definition) als Kriterium für das Risiko einer Mangelernährung. Die häufigsten Fälle von Patienten mit Mangelernährungsrisiko waren mit 29 % (nach NRS-Kriterien) bzw. 62 % (nach Reinbold-Kriterien) in der septischen Unfallchirurgie und unter den weiblichen Studienteilnehmerinnen (nach NRS-Kriterien 22,4 % bzw. nach Reinbold 60 % der Frauen) zu finden. Anschließend wurden für die Jahre 2014 bis 2016 jeweils Fallsimulationen durchgeführt, bei denen für Patienten, die vom Risiko einer Mangelernährung betroffen waren, die Nebendiagnosen um eine der Mangelernährungs-ICDs erweitert wurden. Da es für die Zuordnung von NRS-Werten zu ICD-Codes keine genaue Regelung gibt, wurde dies zum einen nach den NRS-Kriterien (Codierung ab einem NRS ≥ 3) und zum anderen nach dem Vorschlag von Reinbold et al. (Codierung ab einem NRS ≥ 2) durchgeführt und die beiden Methoden anschließend miteinander verglichen. Die Codierung nach Reinbold-Kriterien ergab mit 301.978 € viel höhere Erlös-Steigerungen als die Codierung nach NRS-Kriterien mit 97.269 €. In beiden Fällen nahm die Höhe der theoretischen Zusatzerlöse jedoch in den Jahren 2015 und 2016 kontinuierlich ab, sodass aktuell kein zusätzlicher Erlös mehr durch die Codierung der Mangelernährung zu erwarten ist. Das Interesse der Kliniken, ein gutes Mangelernährungs-Management einzurichten, dürfte dadurch noch weiter gesunken sein. Trotzdem sollte die Erfassung und Codierung der Mangelernährung zumindest für die am meisten von Mangelernährung betroffenen Patientengruppen konsequent stattfinden. Zum einen profitieren die Patienten nachweislich davon und zum anderen kann dies auch für die Kliniken finanziell lohnenswert sein, wenn man die indirekte Kostenrückerstattung berücksichtigt. Kürzere Verweildauern, weniger Komplikationen und weniger Rezidive durch gutes Mangelernährungs-Management führen zum Beispiel dazu, dass schneller Betten für neue Patientenfälle frei werden. Nur durch die korrekte und konsequente Codierung der Mangelernährung besteht zudem die Möglichkeit, dass die Mangelernährungs-DRGs in Zukunft wieder aufgewertet werden. Voraussetzung für die erfolgreiche Umsetzung ist jedoch, dass einheitliche Vorgaben zur Definition, Erfassung, Codierung und Behandlung der Mangelernährung entwickelt werden

O QUE HÁ EM UM TUÍTE? CONSTRUINDO UM LÉXICO SEMÂNTICO BASEADO NA OPINIÃO DE ALUNOS DE EDUCAÇÃO A DISTÂNCIA

Among the various challenges regarding distance education is the necessity of reducing the student dropout rate. In this sense, the present research aimed to contribute to the design of a lexical database focused on emotions and opinions that can be incorporated into a predictive evasion software. For the database design, we used the Scup tool to collect 150 tweets containing distance education students’ opinions and analyzed them in the light of Martin and White’s Appraisal Framework, along with five resources related to the sentiment Analysis field, which were taken from Liu’s work. In addition, we used the Aulete dictionary to describe the lexical units found in our corpus to better fit them into the analysis categories. Results showed 220 opinion tokens, which were identified and labeled according to their polarity. Moreover, these tokens were included in the domains attitude (judgment and appreciation) and graduation (sharp and strong) from the linguistic framework used. The results also indicated the necessity of another resource to help identify the use of figurative language, slangs, and extralinguistic elements, such as GIFS and emojis.Dentre os diversos desafios que concernem à modalidade de educação a distância está a necessidade de diminuição da taxa de evasão dos alunos. Nesse sentido, a presente pesquisa visou a contribuir com a construção de uma base de dados lexicais com foco em emoções e opiniões que possa ser incorporada em um software preditivo de evasão. Para a construção da base de dados, usamos a ferramenta Torabit para coletar 150 tuítes opinativos de alunos da modalidade de educação a distância e os analisamos à luz da Appraisal Framework, de Martin e White (2005), juntamente a cinco recursos relacionados à Análise de Sentimentos que são fornecidos por Liu (2010; 2012) em suas obras. Ademais, utilizamos o dicionário Aulete, dicionário de Português Brasileiro, para descrever unidades lexicais encontradas no corpus e melhor encaixá-las nas categorias de análise das teorias. Os resultados mostraram 220 tokens de opinião que foram identificados e rotulados de acordo com suas respectivas polaridades, além de incluídos nos domínios atitude (julgamento e apreciação) e gradação (acurada e forte) apresentados pelo framework linguístico utilizado. Ademais, o corpus trabalhado revelou uma grande recorrência do uso de linguagem figurativa, gírias e elementos extralinguísticos, tais como GIFS e emojis. Os resultados também indicaram que a abordagem adotada não é eficiente para prover recursos que auxiliam na identificação automáticas de recursos tais como gírias, neologismos, elementos extralinguísticos e linguagem figurada