A Theory of Software Reuse Strategies in Ideal Type Stable and Turbulent Market Environments

Increasingly, IS (information systems) need to better support objectives on the overall business strategy level. Software reuse is one promising concept discussed in development organizations in this context, since it is one key issue in designing and delivering IS and software applications. Reuse is a higher-level strategy with its scope reaching from beyond project boundaries to global markets. Consequently, market conditions have to be considered in software reuse management strategies. With the emergence of modern, turbulent market environments that co-exist with traditional, more stable business conditions, this paper investigates these two different, ideal type market environments, their business strategies, and related software reuse options. It investigates supporting experience from three large projects, builds theory, and concludes with two hypotheses on strategic management preferences for software reuse

A Method to Evaluate the Suitability of Requirements Specifications for Offshore Projects

Today, even the development of business information systems is subject to the global offshoring trend. With the division of development work in an inter-organizational and intercultural context, requirements specifications become the central means to communicate the development scope as explicitly as possible. The suitability of requirements specifications hence often is mission critical in offshore projects. To assess their suitability, we first present eight quality criteria for requirements specifications. We then discuss five critical compensating factors that may potentially balance out an insufficient specification quality during the offshore project. On this basis, we describe a method to rationally evaluate the suitability of requirements specifications for instantiating an offshore project. We illustrate the application of the method by elaborating on a large case study that has been conducted with an industry partner. The results achieved by applying our method were confirmed during the further course of the actual project

Controversial Aspects of Diagnostics and Therapy of Arthritis of the Temporomandibular Joint in Rheumatoid and Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: An Analysis of Evidence- and Consensus-Based Recommendations Based on an Interdisciplinary Guideline Project

Introduction: Due to potentially severe sequelae (impaired growth, condylar resorption, and ankylosis) early diagnosis of chronic rheumatic arthritis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and timely onset of therapy are essential. Aim: Owing to very limited evidence the aim of the study was to identify and discuss controversial topics in the guideline development to promote further focused research. Methods: Through a systematic literature search, 394 out of 3771 publications were included in a German interdisciplinary guideline draft. Two workgroups (1: oral and maxillofacial surgery, 2: interdisciplinary) voted on 77 recommendations/statements, in 2 independent anonymized and blinded consensus phases (Delphi process). Results: The voting results were relatively homogenous, except for a greater proportion of abstentions amongst the interdisciplinary group (p < 0.001). Eighty four percent of recommendations/statements were approved in the first round, 89% with strong consensus. Fourteen recommendations/statements (18.2%) required a prolonged consensus phase and further discussion. Discussion: Contrast-enhanced MRI was confirmed as the method of choice for the diagnosis of TMJ arthritis. Intraarticular corticosteroid injection is to be limited to therapy refractory cases and single injection only. In adults, alloplastic joint replacement is preferable to autologous replacement. In children/adolescents, autologous reconstruction may be performed lacking viable alternatives. Alloplastic options are currently still considered experimental

Service specification and selection: On the component- and service-oriented development of business application systems

Der Wunsch nach besseren, billigeren und schnelleren Entwicklungs- und Anpassungsprozessen für die betriebliche Informationsverarbeitung erklärt sich aus ihrer hohen wirtschaftlichen Bedeutung: die IT eines Unternehmens ist heute regelmäßig eine notwendige Voraussetzung für seine Konkurrenzfähigkeit - oder gar für sein schieres Überleben. Das Ziel, die Entwicklung und Anpassung von Software durch neue Technologien und Methoden deutlich zu verbessern, zu verbilligen und zu beschleunigen, ist daher nach wie vor hochaktuell. Doch welche Ansatzpunkte sind sinnvoll, um sich diesem Ziel im Rahmen eines kumulativen Forschungsprojekts anzunähern? Zu den vielversprechenden Fundamentalansätzen, die zum deutlichen Fortschritt in der Software-Entwicklung beitragen können, gehören insbesondere die Wiederverwendung und die eng damit verwandte Komponenten- und Serviceorientierung. Hier steuert die Dissertationsschrift sechs Forschungsbeiträge bei. Die übergeordnete Gliederung der Beiträge folgt der u.a. betriebswirtschaftlich orientierten Unterscheidung von strategischen, taktischen und operativen Sichtweisen. Zunächst wird mit zwei Beiträgen zur "make-or-buy" Wiederverwendungsproblematik der strategische Rahmen der Arbeit gesetzt. Beide Beiträge gehen dabei vom sogenannten Multipfad-Vorgehensmodell der Entwicklung betrieblicher Anwendungssysteme aus. Aus der Vielzahl von taktischen Themen der komponenten- und serviceorientierten Softwareentwicklung konzentrieren sich die nächsten zwei Beiträge auf die Spezifikation, die als besonders wichtiger und wohl anspruchsvollster Teil der systematischen Entwicklung von Software gilt. Schließlich befassen sich zwei Beiträge zu operativen Methoden und Techniken mit der Auswahl von Komponenten und Services aus der Sicht der Nachfrager im Leitbild der komponenten- und serviceorientierten Entwicklung betrieblicher Anwendungssysteme.The desire for a better, cheaper and faster development and alignment of business information processing can be explained from the paramount economic relevance of IT solutions. Today, IT regularly is a precondition for an organization's competitiveness - or even for its mere survival. The goal to significantly improve software development and adaptation with new technologies and methods is therefore still highly topical. But what reasonable approaches can contribute to this goal in a cumulative research project? Software reuse and, closely related, component- and service-orientation particularly are among the most promising fundamental concepts for noticeable progress in software development. Within this framework, the thesis contributes six research articles. The higher-level structure of the thesis follows the distinction between strategic, tactic and operational ranges of consideration, which origins in business sciences next to others. Initially, two articles on strategic "make or buy" reuse concepts and questions frame the context of the thesis. Both articles refer to the so-called multi-path process model for the development of business application systems. From the multitude of tactic issues in component- and service-oriented software development, the next two articles focus on the specification, which is considered as uniquely important and arguably is the most challenging part in systematically developing software. Finally, two articles deal with operational methods and techniques for choosing components and services from the viewpoint of the demand side in component- and service-oriented development paradigms for business application systems

Reducing Domain Level Scenarios to Test Component-based Software

Abstract—Higher-order black box software tests against independent end user domain requirements has become an issue of increasing importance with compositional reuse of software artifacts. Recently, a general method was proposed that derives testable scenarios directly from a customer domain model by abstraction, reduction and inclusion for critical coverage [32]. The resulting linear (i.e. nonbranching) scenarios are used as references to test suppliers’ software specifications against. This paper presents the method in an overview and elaborates on the domain reduction step within the process for the generation of testable scenarios from a domain model. An example is provided which is non-fictitious on the domain side. Advantages of the method are an underlying clear business model, test oracles that are independent from the software development process, and validation results that are generated early in the development cycle, before the software itself is available. Index Terms—component, software, higher-order test, validation, scenario, domain, end user requirement

Controversial Aspects of Diagnostics and Therapy of Arthritis of the Temporomandibular Joint in Rheumatoid and Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: An Analysis of Evidence- and Consensus-Based Recommendations Based on an Interdisciplinary Guideline Project

Introduction: Due to potentially severe sequelae (impaired growth, condylar resorption, and ankylosis) early diagnosis of chronic rheumatic arthritis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and timely onset of therapy are essential. Aim: Owing to very limited evidence the aim of the study was to identify and discuss controversial topics in the guideline development to promote further focused research. Methods: Through a systematic literature search, 394 out of 3771 publications were included in a German interdisciplinary guideline draft. Two workgroups (1: oral and maxillofacial surgery, 2: interdisciplinary) voted on 77 recommendations/statements, in 2 independent anonymized and blinded consensus phases (Delphi process). Results: The voting results were relatively homogenous, except for a greater proportion of abstentions amongst the interdisciplinary group (p < 0.001). Eighty four percent of recommendations/statements were approved in the first round, 89% with strong consensus. Fourteen recommendations/statements (18.2%) required a prolonged consensus phase and further discussion. Discussion: Contrast-enhanced MRI was confirmed as the method of choice for the diagnosis of TMJ arthritis. Intraarticular corticosteroid injection is to be limited to therapy refractory cases and single injection only. In adults, alloplastic joint replacement is preferable to autologous replacement. In children/adolescents, autologous reconstruction may be performed lacking viable alternatives. Alloplastic options are currently still considered experimental

Controversial Aspects of Diagnostics and Therapy of Arthritis of the Temporomandibular Joint in Rheumatoid and Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: An Analysis of Evidence- and Consensus-Based Recommendations Based on an Interdisciplinary Guideline Project

Introduction: Due to potentially severe sequelae (impaired growth, condylar resorption, and ankylosis) early diagnosis of chronic rheumatic arthritis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and timely onset of therapy are essential. Aim: Owing to very limited evidence the aim of the study was to identify and discuss controversial topics in the guideline development to promote further focused research. Methods: Through a systematic literature search, 394 out of 3771 publications were included in a German interdisciplinary guideline draft. Two workgroups (1: oral and maxillofacial surgery, 2: interdisciplinary) voted on 77 recommendations/statements, in 2 independent anonymized and blinded consensus phases (Delphi process). Results: The voting results were relatively homogenous, except for a greater proportion of abstentions amongst the interdisciplinary group (p < 0.001). Eighty four percent of recommendations/statements were approved in the first round, 89% with strong consensus. Fourteen recommendations/statements (18.2%) required a prolonged consensus phase and further discussion. Discussion: Contrast-enhanced MRI was confirmed as the method of choice for the diagnosis of TMJ arthritis. Intraarticular corticosteroid injection is to be limited to therapy refractory cases and single injection only. In adults, alloplastic joint replacement is preferable to autologous replacement. In children/adolescents, autologous reconstruction may be performed lacking viable alternatives. Alloplastic options are currently still considered experimental