Trialling a Comparative Assessment Tool for Modelling-oriented Assignments – Findings and Recommendations

This paper reports on the findings of trialling an assessment tool (D-PAC) which implements a comparative marking algorithm and promises to be superior to traditional rubric-based marking. The tool was trialled with 18 student submissions of an enterprise architecture modelling assignment from an undergraduate course, and the trial results were compared with the regular rubric-based marking for the same assignment. The tool was found to be easy to use and the assessment outcome yields some interesting differences. Based on these experiences, the paper derives recommendations for future uses of the tool for modelling-oriented assignments in Information Systems or Computer Science courses. Course coordinators and other decision-makers in universities can draw on these recommendations make an informed choice of whether to consider changing their marking approach for their courses or to introduce the tool as part of the applications they provide for their academic

Designing for Change and Transformation: Exploring the Role of IS Artefact Generativity

The use of social media technology (SMT) has become a mainstream activity in private and business sectors. SMT is believed to be an important component of information technology in the public sector. Measuring the ability of SMT to interact with citizens to create public value is one of the key issues facing local government in their adoption of SMT. Merely having a social media icon on a webpage does not demonstrate usage of SMT, nor does it necessarily create value nor improve interaction with citizens. This study aims to research the public value of SMT, and specifically, how citizens perceive social media value in Queensland local councils. A sample of 20 urban and rural local councils that have the most experience in SMT for interaction with citizens and those that also have a large number of social media users was selected for a survey of their residents. This study aims to evaluate citizen perspectives on the public value creation of using SMT with local councils

From Synchronous Face-to-face Group Work to Asynchronous Individual Work: Pivoting an Enterprise Modeling Course for Teaching during a COVID-19 Lockdown

In this paper, I outline the challenges that I faced in teaching an enterprise modeling (EM) course after I lost the ability to have face-to-face interactions and describe a solution that proved to be at least equally effective and appreciated when moved online. The revised course design primarily adopted exercise and assignment work, provided course content in a “piecemeal” fashion, and relied almost exclusively on asynchronous interactions. I distill the solution into specific and more general design principles that educators can apply to other EM courses (and potentially beyond)

A Meta-Study on the Effects of Adopting and Using the ITIL Reference Framework on IS/IT Service Organizations: Implications for Service Design and Management beyond the IT Domain

Based on the aggregated findings of 25 studies from the literature, this paper presents a comprehensive overview of the impacts, motivation, and success factors of the adoption of the IS/IT service management reference framework ITIL in IS/IT service organizations in practice. Positive effects across studies include increased customer satisfaction, service quality, and the increase of time and cost efficiency for service provision. For the introduction of ITIL, top management support, dedicated change management, and the introduction of “quick win” processes were key success factors. Based on these findings, the author discusses several implications for further research on service design and management beyond the domain of IT service management

Design Science as Design of Social Systems – Implications for Information Systems Research

This article summarizes the current state-of-the-art of design science research (DSR) in the management discipline and shows implications for DSR in Information Systems (IS). The objective is to provide a novel perspective for IS DSR beyond a focus on the IT artifact and its application context. Based on a review of the management literature, the current state-of-the-art of management DSR is condensed into a comprehensive approach. Its benefits for the IS discipline are illustrated by applying the approach to two typical directions of IS research: traditional IT artifact-centric DSR and DSR for IS/IT management or IT project management organizations. In addition, a novel approach to define IS DSR artifacts, as well as more differentiated views of artifact relevance and of the impacts of artifact instantiations are presented and discussed

Challenges and Paradoxes of Teaching Project Management the Agile Way

This paper discusses challenges and paradoxes for teaching project management (PM) in an Agile way outside of a software development context. Based on a critical analysis of two PM course iterations in a professional masters program, the paper identifies several areas with tensions between established processes, norms, values, and expectations in higher education and the Agile PM course design. Ultimately, the paper finds that fulfilling the professional masters program’s mission (to educate workforce-ready graduates for today’s Agile / hybrid working environments) would require subverting numerous norms, values, and expectations on the course design, the students’, and the lecturers’ sides. Teachers and program directors in higher education can draw on this paper’s findings to identify and manage pitfalls and paradoxes in their own PM course designs, in order to have them convey Agile PM’s principles, values, and techniques effectively while retaining a positive student experience

Marginalia in Medieval Western Scandinavian Law Manuscripts

n the present chapter, the design of select margins of late medieval Old Norse manuscripts containing the Icelandic ‘Jónsbók’,‘Kristinréttr Árna biskups’ and Norwegian ‘Landslǫg’ law codes is addressed. In particular, it discusses the size and fillings of margins in these codices and the relation to their modes of use by original clients and later owners. Although it is well-known that Scandinavian law manuscripts contain a large number of notes written by both original and later users, the particular use of marginal spaces by original scribes and illuminators for glosses and other annotations and illuminations has scarcely been investigated to date. In my contribution, two distinctive features will be addressed:(1.) The different use of margins by Norwegian and Icelandic readers of the manuscripts, and (2.) the use of margins by illuminators surrounding the column(s) and incorporated initials.publishedVersio

Effectuation and its implications for socio-technical design science research in information systems

We study the implications of the effectuation concept for socio-technical artifact design as part of the design science research (DSR) process in information systems (IS). Effectuation logic is the opposite of causal logic. Ef-fectuation does not focus on causes to achieve a particular effect, but on the possibilities that can be achieved with extant means and resources. Viewing so-cio-technical IS DSR through an effectuation lens highlights the possibility to design the future even without set goals. We suggest that effectuation may be a useful perspective for design in dynamic social contexts leading to a more dif-ferentiated view on the instantiation of mid-range artifacts for specific local ap-plication contexts. Design science researchers can draw on this paper’s conclu-sions to view their DSR projects through a fresh lens and to reexamine their re-search design and execution. The paper also offers avenues for future research to develop more concrete application possibilities of effectuation in socio-technical IS DSR and, thus, enrich the discourse

A four-cycle model of IS design science research: capturing the dynamic nature of IS artifact design

We propose to extend the well-known three-cycle view for design science research (DSR) with a fourth cycle (change and impact cycle) that captures the dynamic nature of IS artifact design for volatile environments. The appropriation of in-innovative designs results in organizational changes that happen outside the new artifacts' immediate application contexts. The intention behind introducing the fourth cycle is to integrate recent advances in the DSR discourse conceptually within the DSR cycle model. We critically review such recent advances and integrate them into an extended model. We show how this change and impact (CI) cycle adds an important facet to DSR to cope with dynamic application contexts as well as artifact-induced organizational change and the resulting need for follow-up design efforts. Iterations of the CI cycle represent the continuous design evolution required to keep up with changing organizational environments