A method for effective use of enterprise modelling techniques in complex dynamic decision making

Effective organisational decision-making requires information pertaining to various organisational aspects, precise analysis capabilities, and a systematic method to capture and interpret the required information. The existing Enterprise Modelling (EM) and actor technologies together seem suitable for the specification and analysis needs of decision making. However, in absence of a method to capture required information and perform analyses, the decision-making remains a complex endeavour. This paper presents a method that captures required information in the form of models and performs what-if calculations in a systematic manner

Business and Information Technology Alignment Measurement -- a recent Literature Review

Since technology has been involved in the business context, Business and Information Technology Alignment (BITA) has been one of the main concerns of IT and Business executives and directors due to its importance to overall company performance, especially today in the age of digital transformation. Several models and frameworks have been developed for BITA implementation and for measuring their level of success, each one with a different approach to this desired state. The BITA measurement is one of the main decision-making tools in the strategic domain of companies. In general, the classical-internal alignment is the most measured domain and the external environment evolution alignment is the least measured. This literature review aims to characterize and analyze current research on BITA measurement with a comprehensive view of the works published over the last 15 years to identify potential gaps and future areas of research in the field.Comment: 12 pages, Preprint version, BIS 2018 International Workshops, Berlin, Germany, July 18 to 20, 2018, Revised Paper

A reference architecture for the collaborative planning modelling process in multi-tier supply chain networks: a Zachman-based approach

A prominent and contemporary challenge for supply chain (SC) managers concerns the coordination of the efforts of the nodes of the SC in order to mitigate unpredictable market behaviour and satisfy variable customer demand. A productive response to this challenge is to share pertinent market-related information, on a timely basis, in order to effectively manage the decision-making associated with the SC production and transportation planning processes. This paper analyses the most well-known reference modelling languages and frameworks in the collaborative SC field and proposes a novel reference architecture, based upon the Zachman Framework (ZF), for supporting collaborative plan- ning (CP) in multi-level, SC networks. The architecture is applied to an automotive supply chain configuration, where, under a collaborative and decentralised approach, improvements in the service levels for each node were observed. The architecture was shown to provide the base discipline for the organisation of the processes required to manage the CP activity.The authors thanks the support from the project 'Operations Design and Management in Global Supply Chains (GLOBOP)' (Ref. DPI2012-38061-C02-01), funded by the Ministry of Science and Education of Spain, for the supply chain environment research contribution.Hernández Hormazábal, JE.; Lyons, AC.; Poler, R.; Mula, J.; Goncalves, R. (2014). A reference architecture for the collaborative planning modelling process in multi-tier supply chain networks: a Zachman-based approach. Production Planning and Control. 25(13-14):1118-1134. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2013.808842S111811342513-14Al-Mutawah, K., Lee, V., & Cheung, Y. (2008). A new multi-agent system framework for tacit knowledge management in manufacturing supply chains. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 20(5), 593-610. doi:10.1007/s10845-008-0142-0Baïna, S., Panetto, H., & Morel, G. (2009). New paradigms for a product oriented modelling: Case study for traceability. Computers in Industry, 60(3), 172-183. doi:10.1016/j.compind.2008.12.004Berasategi, L., Arana, J., & Castellano, E. (2011). A comprehensive framework for collaborative networked innovation. Production Planning & Control, 22(5-6), 581-593. doi:10.1080/09537287.2010.536628Chan, H. K., & Chan, F. T. S. (2009). A review of coordination studies in the context of supply chain dynamics. International Journal of Production Research, 48(10), 2793-2819. doi:10.1080/00207540902791843Chen, D., Doumeingts, G., & Vernadat, F. (2008). Architectures for enterprise integration and interoperability: Past, present and future. Computers in Industry, 59(7), 647-659. doi:10.1016/j.compind.2007.12.016Choi, Y., Kang, D., Chae, H., & Kim, K. (2006). An enterprise architecture framework for collaboration of virtual enterprise chains. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 35(11-12), 1065-1078. doi:10.1007/s00170-006-0789-7Choi, Y., Kim, K., & Kim, C. (2005). A design chain collaboration framework using reference models. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 26(1-2), 183-190. doi:10.1007/s00170-004-2262-9COLQUHOUN, G. J., BAINES, R. W., & CROSSLEY, R. (1993). A state of the art review of IDEFO. International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, 6(4), 252-264. doi:10.1080/09511929308944576Danilovic, M., & Winroth, M. (2005). A tentative framework for analyzing integration in collaborative manufacturing network settings: a case study. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 22(1-2), 141-158. doi:10.1016/j.jengtecman.2004.11.008Derrouiche, R., Neubert, G., Bouras, A., & Savino, M. (2010). B2B relationship management: a framework to explore the impact of collaboration. Production Planning & Control, 21(6), 528-546. doi:10.1080/09537287.2010.488932Dudek, G., & Stadtler, H. (2005). Negotiation-based collaborative planning between supply chains partners. European Journal of Operational Research, 163(3), 668-687. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2004.01.014Gruat La Forme, F.-A., Genoulaz, V. B., & Campagne, J.-P. (2007). A framework to analyse collaborative performance. Computers in Industry, 58(7), 687-697. doi:10.1016/j.compind.2007.05.007Gutiérrez Vela, F. L., Isla Montes, J. L., Paderewski Rodríguez, P., Sánchez Román, M., & Jiménez Valverde, B. (2007). An architecture for access control management in collaborative enterprise systems based on organization models. Science of Computer Programming, 66(1), 44-59. doi:10.1016/j.scico.2006.10.005Hernández, J. E., Poler, R., Mula, J., & Lario, F. C. (2010). The Reverse Logistic Process of an Automobile Supply Chain Network Supported by a Collaborative Decision-Making Model. Group Decision and Negotiation, 20(1), 79-114. doi:10.1007/s10726-010-9205-7Hernández, J. E., J. Mula, R. Poler, and A. C. Lyons. 2013. “Collaborative Planning in Multi-Tier Supply Chains Supported by a Negotiation-Based Mechanism and Multi-Agent System.”Group Decision and Negotiation Journal. doi:10.1007/s10726-013-9358-2.Jardim-Goncalves, R., Grilo, A., Agostinho, C., Lampathaki, F., & Charalabidis, Y. (2013). Systematisation of Interoperability Body of Knowledge: the foundation for Enterprise Interoperability as a science. Enterprise Information Systems, 7(1), 7-32. doi:10.1080/17517575.2012.684401Kampstra, R. P., Ashayeri, J., & Gattorna, J. L. (2006). Realities of supply chain collaboration. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 17(3), 312-330. doi:10.1108/09574090610717509Kim, W., Chung, M. J., Qureshi, K., & Choi, Y. K. (2006). WSCPC: An architecture using semantic web services for collaborative product commerce. Computers in Industry, 57(8-9), 787-796. doi:10.1016/j.compind.2006.04.007Ku, K.-C., Kao, H.-P., & Gurumurthy, C. K. (2007). Virtual inter-firm collaborative framework—An IC foundry merger/acquisition project. Technovation, 27(6-7), 388-401. doi:10.1016/j.technovation.2007.02.010LEE, J., GRUNINGER, M., JIN, Y., MALONE, T., TATE, A., YOST, G., & OTHER MEMBERS OF THE PIF WORKING GROUP. (1998). The Process Interchange Format and Framework. The Knowledge Engineering Review, 13(1), 91-120. doi:10.1017/s0269888998001015Lee, J., Chae, H., Kim, C.-H., & Kim, K. (2009). Design of product ontology architecture for collaborative enterprises. Expert Systems with Applications, 36(2), 2300-2309. doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2007.12.042Liu, J., Zhang, S., & Hu, J. (2005). A case study of an inter-enterprise workflow-supported supply chain management system. Information & Management, 42(3), 441-454. doi:10.1016/j.im.2004.01.010Marques, D. M. N., & Guerrini, F. M. (2011). Reference model for implementing an MRP system in a highly diverse component and seasonal lean production environment. Production Planning & Control, 23(8), 609-623. doi:10.1080/09537287.2011.572469Mula, J., Peidro, D., & Poler, R. (2010). The effectiveness of a fuzzy mathematical programming approach for supply chain production planning with fuzzy demand. International Journal of Production Economics, 128(1), 136-143. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2010.06.007Murata, T. (1989). Petri nets: Properties, analysis and applications. Proceedings of the IEEE, 77(4), 541-580. doi:10.1109/5.24143Noran, O. (2003). An analysis of the Zachman framework for enterprise architecture from the GERAM perspective. Annual Reviews in Control, 27(2), 163-183. doi:10.1016/j.arcontrol.2003.09.002Olorunniwo, F. O., & Li, X. (2010). Information sharing and collaboration practices in reverse logistics. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 15(6), 454-462. doi:10.1108/13598541011080437Recker, J., Rosemann, M., Indulska, M., … Green, P. (2009). Business Process Modeling- A Comparative Analysis. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 10(04), 333-363. doi:10.17705/1jais.00193Rodriguez, K., & Al-Ashaab, A. (2005). Knowledge web-based system architecture for collaborative product development. Computers in Industry, 56(1), 125-140. doi:10.1016/j.compind.2004.07.004Romero, F., Company, P., Agost, M.-J., & Vila, C. (2008). Activity modelling in a collaborative ceramic tile design chain: an enhanced IDEF0 approach. Research in Engineering Design, 19(1), 1-20. doi:10.1007/s00163-007-0040-zSandberg, E. (2007). Logistics collaboration in supply chains: practice vs. theory. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 18(2), 274-293. doi:10.1108/09574090710816977Spekman, R. E., & Carraway, R. (2006). 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A rule driven approach for developing adaptive service oriented business collaboration

Current composite web service development and management solutions, e.g. BPEL, do not cater for flexible and adaptive business collaborations due to their pre-defined and inflexible nature that precludes them accommodating business dynamics. In this paper we propose a rule driven approach for adaptive business collaboration development in which rules drive and govern the development process. We introduce the Business Collaboration Development Framework (BCDF), which provides enterprizes with the context to define their capabilities and business collaboration agreements. Subsequently, we explain how rules can drive and control the business collaboration development process to develop complete, correct and consistent business collaboration agreements that are conform the conditions under which parties wish to cooperate.12 page(s

How small and medium enterprises are using social networks? Evidence from the Algarve region

The evolution of internet created new opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SME), among which are social networks. This work aims at analyzing the potential of these networks for the SME in Algarve, creating a questionnaire for the purpose. The empirical study revealed that some firms have already an integrated business strategy with social networks, as well as a group in the firm responsible for it. Most of their managers consider that social networks enhance performance, but few really measure these results. A categorical principal component analysis identified two dimensions of social networks’ use: social networks for product-client interaction and knowledge; and social networks with potential for marketing. A supplementary analysis (hierarchical clustering) identified three patterns of SME’s involvement in social networks: cluster Social Net Level 1, cluster Social Net Level 2 and cluster Social Net Level 3. These groups validated the results described above, indicating a sustainable methodological approach

Microservice Transition and its Granularity Problem: A Systematic Mapping Study

Microservices have gained wide recognition and acceptance in software industries as an emerging architectural style for autonomic, scalable, and more reliable computing. The transition to microservices has been highly motivated by the need for better alignment of technical design decisions with improving value potentials of architectures. Despite microservices' popularity, research still lacks disciplined understanding of transition and consensus on the principles and activities underlying "micro-ing" architectures. In this paper, we report on a systematic mapping study that consolidates various views, approaches and activities that commonly assist in the transition to microservices. The study aims to provide a better understanding of the transition; it also contributes a working definition of the transition and technical activities underlying it. We term the transition and technical activities leading to microservice architectures as microservitization. We then shed light on a fundamental problem of microservitization: microservice granularity and reasoning about its adaptation as first-class entities. This study reviews state-of-the-art and -practice related to reasoning about microservice granularity; it reviews modelling approaches, aspects considered, guidelines and processes used to reason about microservice granularity. This study identifies opportunities for future research and development related to reasoning about microservice granularity.Comment: 36 pages including references, 6 figures, and 3 table

Towards interoperability through inter-enterprise collaboration architectures

Most enterprise architectures published so far are capable of generating reasonably good descriptive models for individual enterprises to enable integration, organization and synchronization of enterprise elements: organizational structure, business processes, information systems and technology infrastructure, among others. However, research in this field applied to the extended enterprise or inter-enterprise architectures that takes into account the growing trend towards complex collaborative environments is very scarce. In this sense, this article seeks to analyze, link and synthesize the researches that has addressed the disciplines of enterprise architecture and business collaboration, in order to identify possible future research needs from the conceptualization made.Vargas, A.; Boza Garcia, A.; Cuenca, L. (2011). Towards interoperability through inter-enterprise collaboration architectures. En On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems: OTM 2011 Workshops. 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Industrial automation systems - Requirements for enterprise-reference architectures and methodologies.: International Organization for Standardization (2000)Kosanke, K., Vernadat, F., Zelm, M.: CIMOSA: Enterprise engineering and integration. Computers in Industry 40, 83–97 (1999)Cuenca, L.: Marco arquitectónico para la propuesta IE-GIP. Extensión de la arquitectura CIMOSA. Aplicación a una empresa del sector cerámico. PhD thesis. Universidad Politécnica de ValenciaMolina, A., Panetto, H., Chen, D., Whitman, L.: Enterprise Integration and Networking: challenges and trends. Studies in Informatics and Control 16(4), 353–368 (2007)Ortiz, A., Lario, F., Ros, L.: Enterprise Integration—Business Processes Integrated Management: a proposal for a methodology to develop Enterprise Integration Programs. Computers in Industry 40, 155–171 (1999)Chalmeta, R., Campos, C., Grangel, R.: References architectures for enterprise integration. The Journal of Systems and Software 57, 175–191 (2001)Vernadat, F.: Enterprise modeling and integration (EMI): Current status and research perspectives. Annual Reviews in Control 26, 15–25 (2002)Williams, T., Li, H.: PERA and GERAM enterprise reference architectures in enterprise integration. Information Infrastructure Systems for Manufacturing, 1–27 (1998)Lankhorst, M.: Enterprise Architecture at Work: Modelling, Communication and Analysis. Springer, Heidelberg (2009)Arango, M., Londoño, J., Zapata, J.: Arquitectura empresarial- Una visión general. Revista Ingenierías Universidad de Medellín 9(16), 101–111 (2010)Bernard, S.: An introduction to enterprise architecture. AuthorHouse, Bloomington (2005)Cuenca, L., Ortiz, A., Boza, A.: Arquitectura de Empresa. Visión General. In: IX Congreso de Ingeniería de Organización, Gijón (2005)Maya, E.: Arquitectura empresarial: un nuevo reto para las empresas de hoy. Centro de Investigación de las Telecomunicaciones. 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Métodos y técnicas para desarrollos de aplicaciones ubicuas

Los nuevos desarrollos de las Ciencias de la Computación/Informática se orientan hacia la Computación Ubicua, en la que los ordenadores están incluidos en nuestros movimientos naturales y en las interacciones con nuestro entorno, tanto físico como social. Este nuevo paradigma de la computación involucra la movilidad; es decir, la capacidad de mover los servicios informáticos con nosotros; y la pervasividad, es decir, la capacidad de obtener información del entorno en el que está inmersa una aplicación informática y utilizarla para construir dinámicamente modelos de computación. En consecuencia, los principales desafíos en la Computación Ubicua se originan en la integración de la movilidad con la pervasividad, en la búsqueda de que todo dispositivo computacional, mientras se mueve con nosotros, pueda ir construyendo de forma incremental modelos dinámicos de sus diversos entornos y configurar sus servicios en consecuencia. Nuevos retos emergen en términos de cómo se debe diseñar y desarrollar aplicaciones ubicuas. Esto requiere el replanteo de las arquitecturas de software posibles, el diseño de ontologías y de modelos de dominio, nuevos escenarios de interacciones y el análisis de nuevas familias de requisitos no funcionales (como configurabilidad y la adaptabilidad). En este proyecto se propone favorecer el desarrollo de conocimiento científicotecnológico de relevancia sobre Computación Ubicua, realizando propuestas de técnicas, métodos y estrategias para el diseño y construcción de aplicaciones ubicuas. Para esta investigación, es necesario un estudio de tipo exploratorio, descriptivo, analítico y, en algunos casos, correlacional, e investigación aplicada, en la que se usarán métodos y técnicas cuantitativas y cualitativas para alcanzar los objetivos propuestos. La investigación está orientada a analizar, proponer y aplicar técnicas, métodos y/o estrategias para conocer el contexto, razonar en base a él y adaptar los servicios de las aplicaciones ubicuas, en miras de mejorar el nivel de satisfacción del usuario y el desempeño de estas aplicaciones.Eje: Innovación en Sistemas de Software.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

A model based approach for complex dynamic decision-making

Current state-of-the-practice and state-of-the-art of decision-making aids are inadequate for modern organisations that deal with significant uncertainty and business dynamism. This paper highlights the limitations of prevalent decision-making aids and proposes a model-based approach that advances the modelling abstraction and analysis machinery for complex dynamic decision-making. In particular, this paper proposes a meta-model to comprehensively represent organisation, establishes the relevance of model-based simulation technique as analysis means, introduces the advancements over actor technology to address analysis needs, and proposes a method to utilise proposed modelling abstraction, analysis technique, and analysis machinery in an effective and convenient manner. The proposed approach is illustrated using a near real-life case-study from a business process outsourcing organisation