Identifying web service integration challenges.

Web services technology promises well for the future of Business-to-Business integration (B2Bi). However, this technology is still in its infancy and the community is facing many challenges. In this paper we discuss some important B2Bi issues and look how web services could play their part in these. Currently, many web services related standards are being drawn up, but most of these are still immature and do not bring a real answer to the proposed challenges. Consequently, many topics for future research can be identified.Information; Requirements; Cognitive; Integration; Community;

Inter-Organizational Process Integration Problems

In this paper, we discuss eight high-level problems that show up when partnering companies decide to set up cross-organizational processes. It is important in practice to be aware of the existence of these problems and to deal with each of these problems. The problems concern the facts that it is difficult to agree on pre and postconditions of tasks, that parties need to agree on how to trigger task executions, that investments have to be distributed among the parties, that service levels should be agreed upon, that partners should preserve the value of the functions that are executed in the process, that process ownership must be considered at an inter-organizational level and that partners may change over tim

Management and architecture click: The FAD(E)E Framework.

Enterprises are living things. They constantly need to be (re-)architected in order to achieve the necessary agility, alignment and integration. This paper gives a high-level overview of how companies can go about doing 'enterprise architecture' in the context of both the classic (isolated) enterprise and the Extended Enterprise. By discussing the goals that are pursued in an enterprise architecture effort we reveal some basic requirements that can be put on the process of architecting the enterprise. The relationship between managing and architecting the enterprise is discussed and clarified in the FAD(E)E, the Framework for the Architectural Development of the (Extended) Enterprise.Management; Architecture; Framework;

Effect of water quality on waterbugs (Hemiptera: Gerromorpha & Nepomorpha) in Flanders (Belgium) : results from a large-scale field survey

Macroinvertebrates have been collected in Flanders since 1989 by the Flemish Environment Agency to assess ecological water quality. During the present study, the collected waterbugs were identified to species level. In total, more than 90 000 waterbugs were identified, belonging to 45 species. Two of these are recent additions to Flemish fauna: Sigara iactans was found to be a common species in 1989, the first year of monitoring, which is earlier than the first records reported so far, whereas Cymatia rogenhoferi remains a very rare species. Five different communities could be recognized: (1) species occurring in alkaline waters with a high pH, (2) species occurring in colder waters that can tolerate slightly brackish and nutrient rich water, (3) species from running waters, (4) species from acidic waters and (5) ubiquist species that occurred in all types of water. Owing to the general improvement of chemical water quality during the last decade, most species increased, however, three pollution tolerant species declined significantly: Callicorixa praeusta, Corixa punctata and Sigara striata

Why We Don’t Block 3rd Party Trackers: An Attributional Theory Perspective

Research on online consumer privacy typically relies on the trust-risk framework to explain users’ reactions to perceived privacy threats. However, little is known about such reactions in the context of third party tracking, where there is no explicitly defined agent to be trusted. In this research-in-progress, we propose an that in these situations users rely to the their attributional styles to shape their future actions. We present a model that predicts behavioral intentions based on traditional protection motivation theory and complements it with the construct of attributional style

Extended enterprise architecture with the FADEE.

Business-to-Business integration (B2Bi) is considered to be not merely an IT-issue, but also a business problem. This paper draws attention to the challenges companies within an Extended Enterprise are confronted with when integrating their systems. We primarily pay attention to coordination problems that may arise. To overcome these problems we propose the use of Enterprise Architecture descriptions. We discuss the powers of using Enterprise Architecture descriptions in integration exercises. It will become clear that doing Enterprise Architecture is no longer an option; it is mandatory. Furthermore, we present the FADEE, the Framework for the Architectural Description of the Extended Enterprise. This framework gives an overview of how companies can apply the Zachman framework to do Enterprise Architecture in the realm of the Extended Enterprise.Architecture; Business-to-Business integration; Companies; Coordination; Enterprise architecture; Extended enterprise; Extended enterprise architecture framework; FADEE; Framework; Integration; Problems; Research; Systems;

Communication about Planned Obsolescence as an Atypical Two-sided Message

While many information technology vendors deliberately cut their products’ lifecycles to elicit repeat purchases, consumers are often unaware of such planned obsolescence. This paper investigates the effects of atypical two-sided communication about planned obsolescence on consumers’ beliefs and buying intentions. Drawing upon insights from inoculation theory, we hypothesize that trust and intent to buy initially decrease after individuals are exposed to communication about planned obsolescence, but that they partly bounce back after some time during which the inoculated individuals get a chance to discuss and practice counter-arguing the two-sided message. Through a repeated measures survey design, we confirm the study’s main hypotheses. We also show that the drop in intent to buy depends on gender, the importance given to friendship, and the weighted average decrease in friends’ intent to buy

Moving Away from Traditional Elements to Build Trust in E-Commerce

This paper investigates the evolution in variables that lead customers to trust an online shop or not. On the basis of samples taken in 2004 and in 2008 in Seoul (South Korea), it is shown that website visitors tend to trust online shops of generally well known companies. Certification marks granted by trusted third parties to online shops do not seem to induce trust, although a small positive trend seems noticeable. Offering accurate, easy to find product information on the website induced trust in 2004, but did no longer do so in 2008. All in all, the 2004 South Korean customer seemed to do business on the Internet like in the real world. However, by 2008 he seemed to be slowly moving away from that traditional way of buying things on the Internet to an Internet-specific way where other elements are considered to decide whether an online shop can be trusted

On the unexpected differences in media usage in purchasing in France and Flanders

It is often (implicitly) assumed that e-commerce behavior is similar in countries with a similar culture. Through a study of e-commerce behavior of both, private consumers and company representatives, this paper proves there are actually significant differences in e-commerce behavior between subgroups of such countries. In this study, statistically significant differences are found in the stated appropriateness of different media to find product information, to find a supplier and to make the actual purchase