Business process management tools as a measure of customer-centric maturity

In application of business process management (BPM) tools in European commercial sectors, this paper examines current maturity of customer centricity construct (CC) as an emerging dimension of competition and as a potential strategic management direction for the future of business. Processes are one of the key components of transformation in the CC roadmap. Particular departments are more customer orientated than others, and processes, customer-centric expertise, and approach can be built and utilized starting from them. Positive items within a current business process that only involve minor modification could be the basis for that. The evidence of movement on the customer-centric roadmap is found. BPM in European telecommunications, banking, utility and retail sector supports roadmap towards customer-centricity in process view, process alignment and process optimization. However, the movement is partial and not flawless, as BPM hasn’t been inquired for supporting many of customer-centric dimensions

The role of IT governance in digital operating models

Many researchers have dedicated their work in IT Governance, and numerous methods, techniques and tools for making decisions to align IT to a business strategy were proposed in the last decade. In the meantime, new digital business models developed rapidly and aligning business with IT has become more difficult than ever. Governance frameworks are widely used to reduce complexity in the decision-making process and organisations tend to use several topics related governance frameworks besides IT Governance. Different governance frameworks are related, dependent and interact under each other, and since they all have their own method of measurement and evaluation, the interaction suffers from a lack of data consistency or they do not take all dimensions of decision-making into account. Furthermore, the lack of consistency is caused by the definition of governance frameworks itself and leads to concurring goals among governing bodies. This paper proposes a design goal for a method of measurement by (1) critically reviewing the existing state of art of measurement and evaluation concepts of governance frameworks, by following a comprehensive review of the normative literature dealing with the measurement aspects of IT Governance, and (2) analysing a dataset (n=51) of a preliminary study done in spring 2017 with Swiss companies

Digital maturity variables and their impact on the enterprise architecture layers

This study examines the variables of digital maturity of companies. The framework for enterprise architectures Archimate 3.0 is used to compare the variables. The variables are assigned to the six layers of architecture: Strategy, Business Environment, Applications, Technology, Physical and Implementation and Migration. On the basis of a literature overview, 15 “digital maturity models” with a total of 147 variables are analyzed. The databases Scopus, EBSCO – Business Source Premier and ProQuest are used for this purpose

Governance team leadership and business user participation : organizational practices for innovative customer engagement in data compliance project

The study examines the relationship between the governance program teams, business user participation, and innovation in data compliance projects. Many firms continue to struggle with their governance programs as its effective implementation requires organizational change and a higher rate of involvement of those with significant knowledge of the context of the system use. Leadership elements are observed in governance teams and the way how these elements impact both, participation and innovation in recent General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) data compliance efforts. To test the hypotheses, a quantitative method with Structural Equation Modelling and Partial Least Squares (PLS) in SmartPLS tool are used. The empirical data are collected from 98 data management professionals involved in projects associated with customers’ data in larger organizations across European Union (EU). Research findings show that Governance Team Leadership (GTL) influence positively Line-of-Business Stakeholders Participation (LOBSP) and LOBSP influence positively Data Compliance Innovation (DCI) in GDPR efforts. Moreover, it shows that LOBSP is the underlying mechanism (mediator) of the relationship GTL and DCI. Data governance transfers data and information management towards managerial functions and strategic management. Data has become embedded within nearly every department and business unit, and its proper enterprise-wide governance requires much more rigorous alignment with business users and formation of one cross-functional unit – data stewardship team of proactive leaders. In opportunities and restrictions of data revolution underway, evidence of any sustainable organizational practices leading to innovations and competitive advantage is beneficial

Relation of data governance, customer-centricity and data processing compliance

Compliance costs are significant, and data related regulations are more frequent. The study argues if compliance spending can also generate additional value, as just a minimal regulation requirements fulfilment is not by any means achieving a competitive advantage. To test the hypotheses, a quantitative method with Structural Equation Modelling and Partial Least Squares (PLS) in the SmartPLS tool is used. The empirical data is collected from 98 data management professionals involved in recent European Union and General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) projects associated with party data in larger organizations across Europe. The study suggests that Data Governance Span (DGS) leads to the increase of both data compliance related variables - Data Compliance Innovation (DCI) and Privacy Project Efficiency (PPE) - at the same time. However, its effect on the increase of Data Compliance Innovation (DCI) is weaker than the effect on the increase of Privacy Project Efficiency (PPE). Customer-Centric Orientation (CCO) is discovered to be an underlying mechanism of the relationship between Data Governance Span (DGS) and Data Compliance Innovation (DCI). Implications for Central European audience: Firms in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) did not use innovation enough in data compliance. DCI is the lowest in the CEE region DGS1 is the second lowest in CEE compared to all-regions-average. DGS1 refers to the business stakeholder involvement in the formal engagement, which assumes their responsibility

Digital maturity variables and their impact on the enterprise architecture layers

This study examines the variables of digital maturity of companies. The framework for enterprise architectures Archimate 3.0 is used to compare the variables. The vari¬ables are assigned to the six layers of architecture: Strategy, Business Environment, Applications, Technology, Physical and Implementation and Migration. On the basis of a literature overview, 15 “digital maturity models” with a total of 147 variables are analyzed. The databases Scopus, EBSCO – Business Source Premier and ProQuest are used for this purpose.The results of the work will help researchers and managers to identify which digitiza¬tion variables affect the different layers of the company. This enables researchers or managers to use the right model for a specific purpose or to create a new model from a combination of existing models for the entire company or just one architectural layer.On the basis of a more precise assessment of the digital maturity of a company, better actions can be derived. This work is important for companies, as the digitization of enterprises and markets changed similarly to the invention of the steam engine did. Websites, sensors, mobile devices, apps, etc. are combined into new digital products and services. The competitors in the market have to adapt. If this is not done, they will increasingly disappear.Finally, the authors suggests a conclusion about the current situation regarding the measurement of digital maturity in companies and show in which areas further studies could be carried out

Decision-making among experts in advanced Hodgkin Lymphoma.

BACKGROUND In the treatment of advanced Hodgkin Lymphoma (aHL), based on guidelines a multitude of treatment options are available. The availability of PET guided decision-making and new therapeutic agents increase the complexity of the decision-making process. METHODS Thirteen experts of Swiss university and cantonal hospitals in Switzerland were asked to describe their institutional decision-making practice in aHL. Variables influencing the decision-making process were identified, standardized and converted into decision trees for analysis of consent and discrepancies. The algorithms of all participating experts were analyzed with the objective consensus methodology. RESULTS Four decision criteria (age, fertility preservation, fitness, interim PET) and 12 unique treatment regimens were identified. Consensus for the treatment of aHL for young and fit, as well as for older patients without comorbidity was found. Large heterogeneity was identified with use of a variety of different regimens for unfit patients with aHL and for young female patients with a desire of fertility preservation. CONCLUSION Four major decision criteria were identified allowing the representation of expert's approach to first-line treatment of aHL. Among Swiss experts, consensus for a PET guided curative treatment of aHL was identified. The use of a multitude of treatment regimens was observed for older and comorbid (unfit) aHL patients, highlighting the need for clinical trials and recommendations for this group of patients

The analysis of heterotaxy patients reveals new loss-of-function variants of GRK5

G protein-coupled receptor kinase 5 (GRK5) is a regulator of cardiac performance and a potential therapeutic target in heart failure in the adult. Additionally, we have previously classified GRK5 as a determinant of left-right asymmetry and proper heart development using zebrafish. We thus aimed to identify GRK5 variants of functional significance by analysing 187 individuals with laterality defects (heterotaxy) that were associated with a congenital heart defect (CHD). Using Sanger sequencing we identified two moderately frequent variants in GRK5 with minor allele frequencies <10%, and seven very rare polymorphisms with minor allele frequencies <1%, two of which are novel variants. Given their evolutionarily conserved position in zebrafish, in-depth functional characterisation of four variants (p.Q41L, p.G298S, p.R304C and p.T425M) was performed. We tested the effects of these variants on normal subcellular localisation and the ability to desensitise receptor signalling as well as their ability to correct the left-right asymmetry defect upon Grk5l knockdown in zebrafish. While p.Q41L, p.R304C and p.T425M responded normally in the first two aspects, neither p.Q41L nor p.R304C were capable of rescuing the lateralisation phenotype. The fourth variant, p.G298S was identified as a complete loss-of-function variant in all assays and provides insight into the functions of GRK5