Dynamic process modelling for business engineering and information systems evaluation

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This research is concerned with the pre-implementation evaluation of investments in Information Systems (IS). IS evaluation is important as organisations need to assess the financial justifiability of business change proposals that include (but usually are not limited to) the introduction of IS applications. More specifically, this research addresses the problem of benefits assessment within IS evaluation. We contend that benefits assessment should not be performed at the level of the IS application, as most extant evaluation methods advocate. Instead, to study the dynamics and the interactions of the IS applications with their surrounding environment, we propose to adopt the business process as the analytic lens of evaluation and to assess the impacts of IS on organisational, rather than on technical, performance indicators. Drawing on these propositions, this research investigates the potential of dynamic process modelling (via discrete-event simulation) as a facilitator of IS evaluation. We argue that, in order to be effective evaluation tools, business process models should be able to explicitly incorporate the effects of IS introduction on business performance, an issue that is found to be under-researched in previous literature. The above findings serve as the central theme for the development of a design theory of IS evaluation by simulation. The theory provides prescriptive elements that refer both to the design products of the evaluation and the design process by which these products can come into reality. The theory draws on a set of kernel theories from the business engineering domain and proposes a set of meta-requirements that should be satisfied by business process models, a meta-design structure that meets these requirements, and a design method that provides guidance in applying the theoretical propositions in practice. The design theory is developed and empirically tested by means of two real-life case studies. The first study is used to complement the findings of a literature review and to drive the development of the design theory's components, while the second study is employed to validate and further enhance the theory's propositions. The research results support the arguments for simulation-assisted IS evaluation and demonstrate the contribution of the design theory to the field

A motivation and effort model for members of wireless communities

The aim of this paper is to develop an analytical framework and model for understanding motivation and effort among members of Community-based WLANs. Wireless communities represent a stimulating area for research due to their organizational uniqueness as loosely-knit communities of wireless enthusiasts who cooperate to set up and operate a wireless communications infrastructure; in other words, they represent an example of collective action. Thus, two research issues are critical in understanding the mechanics behind the sustained existence of wireless communities: motivation – why individuals become community members – and coordination – how individuals within a community interact with each other. Focusing on the first issue, the paper provides a theoretical explanation of motivation which, in turn, informs the design of a conceptual model. According to this explanation, an individual decides to participate in a wireless community because of intrinsic as well as extrinsic motives. These motives are balanced against the perceived effort to join and participate in the community to jointly determine a suitable participation level for each community member. The resulting model adopts a cost-benefit (utility) perspective that is being empirically tested through a large-scale questionnaire survey

“DAD BOUGHT ANOTHER TOY”: MEANING MAKING AND EMOTIONS WITH TABLETS

This paper examines the interplay between meaning and emotion of tablet users during the interaction with these artifacts. Following an interpretive case study approach, we examine users’ meaning making as the context of use changes from the business context to the personal environment, trailing users’ interpretation of the tablet and their overall experience, in order to detect changes in their feeling states and understand their emotional experience with the IT artifact. Having examined mainly on-the-go professionals, our findings illustrate that the tablet is considered as a compelling device, being interpreted simultaneously as an extension of the office environment, while being mobile or at home, as a multimedia and content consumption station and as communal device, awarding or strengthening the social character of group activities. In addition, the findings suggest that users develop an attachment to the device, by either personalizing it and approaching it as a companion, or by attributing to it a symbolic significance, by recognizing a value in its expressive characteristics and assessing it as a ‘possession to own’. Our findings demonstrate that, as the tablet moves from the business to the home environment, gradually losing its utilitarian purpose, changes in feeling states become more significant and the emotional experience intensifies

AT&T vs Verizon: Mining Twitter for Customer Satisfaction towards North American Mobile Operators

The North American Telecommunications sector is one of the leading mobile broadband sectors worldwide, representing increasingly important revenue opportunities for mobile operators. Taking into consideration that the market is being saturated and revenue from new subscriptions is increasingly deteriorating, mobile carriers tend to focus on customer service and high levels of customer satisfaction in order to retain customers and maintain a low churn rate. In this context, it is a matter of critical importance to be able to measure the overall customer satisfaction level, by explicitly or implicitly mining the public opinion towards this end. In this paper, we argue that online social media can be exploited as a proxy to infer customer satisfaction through the utilization of automated, machine-learning based sentiment analysis techniques. Our work focuses on the two leading mobile broadband carriers located in the broader North American area, AT&T and Verizon, by analysing tweets fetched during a 15-day period within February 2013, to assess relative customer satisfaction degrees. The validity of our approach is justified through comparison against surveys conducted during 2012 from Forrester and Vocalabs in terms of customer satisfaction on the overall brand - usage experience

The Wireless Readiness Innovation Index: Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Public Sector in New Service Introduction

National and regional public authorities need to align their planned introduction of mobile/wireless innovation with the maturity levels of both their workforce (who will manage and maintain the new applications) and their citizens (who will use them). We draw on the experience of working with local authorities in three Mediterranean countries (Greece, Italy and Spain) to develop a method towards the effective introduction and adoption of innovative mobile services by public organizations. Specifically, we discuss the development and pilot implementation of a) the Wireless Readiness Innovation Index , a tool that aims at measuring the local authority’s and end users’ readiness towards providing and using innovative wireless services and b) the Wireless Innovation Operational Toolkit , a tool that aims at matching users’ and local authority’s readiness levels with candidate services so as to maximize the likelihood of successful introduction and sustained use

EXPLORING THE ADOPTION OF UBIQUITOUS INFORMATION SYSTEMS WITHIN THE MUSEUM CONTEXT

Wireless and mobile technologies are gradually enabling the provision of innovative information services within almost all environments. This study explores the adoption of ubiquitous museum information systems that can significantly enhance and enrich the museum visit. We draw on traditional IS adoption theories and theories from Museum Studies to develop our theoretical model which is empirically tested through a survey addressed to museum visitors (n=118). Model hypotheses are tested through Partial Least Squares modelling. The results show that Performance Expectancy and Personal Innovativeness still represent the core predictors toward the adoption of museum information systems. However, we also report on the predictive strength of two context-related factors, Invisibility and Interaction, which appear to play a particular role toward the formulation of favourable user perceptions. The paper concludes with implications on the design of museum information systems and specific suggestions for future research

A collaborative supply chain management framework: Part 1 – planning stage

This paper presents issues associated with the needs of collaborative supply chain management (CSCM) and proposes a planning stage of a CSCM framework.Design/methodology/approach– The proposed planning stage of a CSCM framework incorporates issues of organisation profile, internal functional strategy and supplier‐customer strategy. The gauging absence of prerequisites (GAP) analysis technique which embedded in the knowledge‐based system is proposed in the planning stage to analyse the gap between the current and the desirable position (benchmark) for an effective implementation in organisation.Findings – The planning stage framework provides information specifically for designing a CSCM by focusing on the organisation capability and business processes and discussed the important issues in planning a CSCM for business organisations, specifically for a manufacturing environment.Research limitations/implications – Further research could be carried out to capitalise the framework for improving the CSCM. Practical implications– The proposed planning stage of a CSCM framework enables the chain members to identify key factors or issues for CSCM development.Originality/value– The new aspects of the proposed CSCM are firstly, the proposed planning stage model is supported by a KBS approach. Secondly, the use of GAP analysis technique and finally, the planning stage framework provides information and issues for the design stage of CSCM framework