Positioning Clients in Dyadic Dependence Structures of IS Outsourcing Relationships – Conceptualization and Empirical Findings

While dependence is a well-known concern in IS outsourcing, there is little literature dealing with this phenomenon as proposed by traditional dependence research in other disciplines. In particular, little efforts have been made to contrast a client’s dependence with supplier’s dependence in a single study. To bring forward the conceptualization in our field, we investigated five outsourcing relationships with respect to dependence structures in a dyad. Perceptual differences became apparent while comparing clients’ perceived dependencies with suppliers’ ones. As a second contribution we aimed to explain different client positions in the dependence structures. Therefore, the dependence construct was broken down into its constituting facets. Besides importance of the outsourcing relationship and a supplier’s substitutability, spillover effects emerged as an unanticipated third category of dependence. Originating from other exchange relationships with the same partner, these effects can distort the dependence structure in the focal relationship. Implications for future research are discussed

Unfolding Dyadic Dependencies in IS Outsourcing Relationships – Development of Two Multidimensional Constructs

While dependence is seen as a major risk in IS outsourcing relationships, to date little attention has been paid to fully and unambiguously capturing the complex nature of this phenomenon and specifying how to measure it. Research in reference disciplines has shown that dependence is a dyadic concept, i.e., studies should assess both the client’s and the supplier’s dependence in order to draw adequate conclusions. Hence, to provide a thorough basis for future IS outsourcing studies, this research-in-progress paper follows a multi-method approach (extensive literature review, case study interviews, Q-sorting, questionnaire pretests, two-sided pre-study with 44 responses from 367 companies) to develop two multidimensional “dependence” constructs, reflecting both sides of an IS outsourcing dyad, i.e., client and supplier dependence. Our research efforts aim to contribute to and extend inter-organizational IS studies and to support client and supplier firms in monitoring and influencing dyadic dependence structures

Technological Frames of Reference in Software Acquisition Decisions: Results of a Multiple Case Study

Packaged software has gained importance across organizations. While literature has studied the adoption and implementation of packaged software extensively, research on software acquisition has been limited. Especially, scholars have called for more research from a sociological point of view. Software acquisition projects are complex endeavors during which multiple stakeholders and perspectives interact. With this study, we strive to illustrate social interactions in software acquisition decisions through the theoretical lens of technological frames of reference. We conducted a multiple case study with 15 experts from IT, business, and procurement. We find evidence for distinct technological frames across departments that are combined during the software acquisition process, ultimately resulting in common understanding and consensus. Furthermore, we identify eight salient framing effects that facilitate this dynamic alignment of frames. Our results allow for an extension of technological frames of reference theory and support decision makers in optimizing their software acquisition decisions and processes

Management of IS Outsourcing Relationships – A Dyadic Analysis of Antecedents and Consequences of Dependencies and Power

Many companies today rely heavily on specialized information technology (IT) suppliers for fulfilling their IT demands. However, external provision, i.e., outsourcing, of IT services is a risky endeavor, and expectations are frequently not met. This dissertation addresses the challenge of successfully managing outsourcing relationships between clients and IT suppliers. The dissertation begins by presenting results from a multiple case study that analyzes the organizational design of the management of supplier relations in the IT organizations of five client companies. These results contribute to research in this area and show IT decision makers on the client side efficient ways of organizing the ‘client-supplier interface’. Special attention is paid to the risks associated with outsourcing arrangements that should be addressed as part of successful relationship management. From a client’s perspective, excessive dependence on the IT supplier is viewed as a major outsourcing hazard. However, research from related disciplines suggests not only analyzing a client’s dependence but also incorporating the supplier’s dependence on the client in a dyadic exchange relationship. Differences between the dependency levels of the client and the supplier can lead to a power advantage for one party that can then be used to the detriment of the dependence-disadvantaged party. The dissertation investigates different dependence and power constellations in outsourcing relationships using a case study approach. The investigation results in conceptualizations and measurement instruments for client and supplier dependence in outsourcing relationships. The dissertation ends with a large-scale empirical survey that analyzes the effects of different combinations of dependencies and power use on the contractual partners’ satisfaction with the exchange performance. Taken together, the results advance knowledge about the successful management of outsourcing relationships and, more specifically, they enable clients and IT suppliers to capture and optimize dependence relations

Microstructures and mineralogy of deformation bands in drill cores from the Matzen Hydrocarbon Reservoir, Austria

In porösen Sedimentgesteinen werden Störungszonen häufig von Deformation Bands begleitet. Diese flachen Versatzzonen zeigen vorrangig Kornrotation und in einigen Fällen Kornzerkleinerung. Diese Mechanismen haben oft zur Folge, dass es zu einer signifikanten Porositäts-und Permeabilitätsreduktion kommt. Für gewöhnlich zeigen Deformation Bands einen nur kleinen Versatz im Millimeter bis kleineren Zentimeterbereich, eine ähnliche Dicke und können durch seismische Messungen nicht erfasst werden. In dieser Studie wurden fünf Bohrkernproben des Kohlenwasserstoffreservoirs im Wiener Becken, dem Matzen Feld, analysiert. Die Bohrung findet sich nahe einer großen Abschiebung und die ausgewählten Gesteinsproben wurden aus einer Tiefe von 1647,5m bis 1656,5m entnommen, wo Deformation Bands erkannt wurden. Die aus dem Badenium stammenden terrigenen Matzen Sandsteine enthalten überwiegend Quarz, Feldspat und Dolomit, in Form angerundeter, detritärer Körner und sind kaum zementiert. Abschiebungen mit mehreren Zehnern bis Hunderten Metern Versatz sind anhand seismischer Untersuchungen gut dokumentiert, allerdings wurden Deformation Bands in diesem Reservoir nicht im Detail untersucht. Diese Strukturen können mit einer signifikanten Porositätsreduktion assoziiert werden und können demzufolge Barrieren für das Migrieren der Kohlenwasserstoffe bilden. Daraus ergeben sie eine Kompartmentierung des Reservoirs während der Migration, Anreicherung oder Produktion. Deformation Bands treten als einzelne Bänder von bis zu 4mm Breite, oder im Verbund mit einer Dicke von bis zu 5cm auf. Basierend auf Korngrößenanalysen detritärer Quarzkörner kann eine kataklastische Korngrößenreduktion innerhalb der Bänder dokumentiert werden. Eine Porositätsreduktion innerhalb der Deformation Bands ist makroskopisch erkennbar und wird durch Bildanalysen von Back-scattered electron (BSE) Bildern bestätigt. Die Porosität wird vermindert von 20-30% im Muttergestein auf 1-9% in den Deformation Bands. Im Gegensatz zu häufig publizierten Beispielen von Deformation Bands in terrigenen Sandsteinen wird in diesem Fall die Porositätsreduktion hauptsächlich durch Beteiligung von Fe-Dolomitzementen innerhalb der Bands verursacht und nur untergeordnet durch Kataklase. Die chemische Zusammensetzung des Zements unterscheidet sich von detritären Dolomitkörnern im Nebengestein. Der Dolomitzement zeigt einen FeO-Gehalt von 10-12wt%, im Gegensatz zu den detritären Dolomitkörnern, die weniger als 2wt% FeO aufweisen. Diese Beobachtung weist darauf hin, dass der Zement nicht durch die Auflösung und Rekristallisation detritärer Dolomitkörner gebildet wurde, sondern von einem Fluid einer externen Quelle stammt. Zusammenfassend kann die Bildung der Deformation Bands im Reservoir Matzen folgendermaßen charakterisiert werden: Nach einer anfänglichen Porositätszunahme durch Ausdehnung, Auflockerung und Fragmentierung der detritären Körner, kristallisierte ein Fe-reiches Karbonatfluid innerhalb der Bands aus, wobei es zu einer Porositätsreduktion relativ zum Nebengestein kam. Die Fe und Mg- reichen Fluids stammen wahrscheinlich aus darunter liegenden Tonschichten. Unterschiedliche Ölsättigungen auf beiden Seiten der Bänder demonstrieren, dass diese Zementationsbänder als effektive Barrieren für die Migration von Kohlenwasserstoffen agieren und deshalb in Reservoirmodellen berücksichtigt werden sollten.In porous sedimentary rocks, fault zones are frequently accompanied by deformation bands. These tabular zones of displacement indicate predominant grain rotation and in many cases grain fracturing. These mechanisms often result in a significant reduction of porosity and permeability. Deformation bands usually show displacements of only a few millimeters to centimeters, and similar thickness, and cannot be captured by seismic measurements. This study analyzed five core samples taken from a well in a hydrocarbon reservoir, the Matzen Field, of the Vienna Basin. The well is located near large normal faults. The samples were selected from depths between 1647.5m and 1656.5m, where deformation bands were identified. The Badenian terrigeneous Matzen sandstones contain predominantly quartz, feldspar and dolomite as sub-rounded, detrital grains bearing weak cementation. Normal faults with several tens to hundreds of meters of displacement are well documented from seismic sections, whereas deformation bands in this reservoir have not been studied in detail. These structures may be associated with a significant reduction in porosity, and may thus create barriers to the migration of hydrocarbons and result in a compartmentalization of the reservoir during migration, charging or production. Deformation bands occur as single bands of up to 4mm width, or as strands of several bands with up to 5cm thickness. Based on grain size analyses of detrital quartz, cataclastic grain size reduction within the bands can be documented. A reduction of porosity within the deformation bands can already be recognized macroscopically and is confirmed by image analysis from back-scattered electron (BSE) images. The porosity is reduced from 20-30% in the host rock to 1-9% in the deformation bands. In contrast to most published examples of deformation bands in terrigeneous sandstones, the reduction of porosity is predominantly caused by precipitation of Fe-dolomite cement within the bands, and only subordinately by cataclasis. The chemical composition of this cement differs from the detrital dolomite grains of the host rock. The dolomite cement shows 10-12wt% FeO content, in contrast to the detrital dolomite grains with less than 2wt% FeO. This observation suggests that the cement is not derived from the detrital grains, but precipitated from a fluid from an external source. In summary, the evolution of deformation bands in the Matzen reservoir can be characterized as follows: After an initial increase of porosity by dilation, disaggregation and fragmentation of detrital grains, a Fe-rich carbonate fluid crystallized within the bands, thereby reducing the porosity relative to the host sediment. Regarding the origin of the Fe-rich dolomite cement, it is postulated that fluids enriched in Fe and Mg originating from underlying shale layers were precipitated within the bands. Different degrees of oil staining on either side of the bands demonstrate that these cementation bands act as effective barriers to the migration of hydrocarbons and should be considered in reservoir models

Heterogeneity in IT Landscapes and Monopoly Power of Firms: A Model to Quantify Heterogeneity

The term heterogeneity is widely used to describe complex IT systems and can refer to various characteristics, such as vendor, technology, or semantic diversity of the systems components. However, no commonly accepted definition or quantification of this “diversity” can be found in IS literature. In this article we transfer well-studied measures from other disciplines (especially economics and the anti-monopoly legislation) to heterogeneity in IT landscapes. The two main contributions of this article are A) the definition of heterogeneity in an IT landscape as a statistical property – which therefore can be measured by statistical indexes and B) a generic approach to quantify heterogeneity in IT landscapes. The applicability of the conceptualization and the approach to quantify heterogeneity is demonstrated in two real IT organizations

Proteomic fingerprinting enables quantitative biodiversity assessments of species and ontogenetic stages in Calanus congeners (Copepoda, Crustacea) from the Arctic Ocean

Species identification is pivotal in biodiversity assessments and proteomic fingerprinting by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry has already been shown to reliably identify calanoid copepods to species level. However, MALDI-TOF data may contain more information beyond mere species identification. In this study, we investigated different ontogenetic stages (copepodids C1–C6 females) of three co-occurring Calanus species from the Arctic Fram Strait, which cannot be identified to species level based on morphological characters alone. Differentiation of the three species based on mass spectrometry data was without any error. In addition, a clear stage-specific signal was detected in all species, supported by clustering approaches as well as machine learning using Random Forest. More complex mass spectra in later ontogenetic stages as well as relative intensities of certain mass peaks were found as the main drivers of stage distinction in these species. Through a dilution series, we were able to show that this did not result from the higher amount of biomass that was used in tissue processing of the larger stages. Finally, the data were tested in a simulation for application in a real biodiversity assessment by using Random Forest for stage classification of specimens absent from the training data. This resulted in a successful stage-identification rate of almost 90%, making proteomic fingerprinting a promising tool to investigate polewards shifts of Atlantic Calanus species and, in general, to assess stage compositions in biodiversity assessments of Calanoida, which can be notoriously difficult using conventional identification methods

Lassie: HOL4 Tactics by Example

Proof engineering efforts using interactive theorem proving have yielded several impressive projects in software systems and mathematics. A key obstacle to such efforts is the requirement that the domain expert is also an expert in the low-level details in constructing the proof in a theorem prover. In particular, the user needs to select a sequence of tactics that lead to a successful proof, a task that in general requires knowledge of the exact names and use of a large set of tactics. We present Lassie, a tactic framework for the HOL4 theorem prover that allows individual users to define their own tactic language by example and give frequently used tactics or tactic combinations easier-to-remember names. The core of Lassie is an extensible semantic parser, which allows the user to interactively extend the tactic language through a process of definitional generalization. Defining tactics in Lassie thus does not require any knowledge in implementing custom tactics, while proofs written in Lassie retain the correctness guarantees provided by the HOL4 system. We show through case studies how Lassie can be used in small and larger proofs by novice and more experienced interactive theorem prover users, and how we envision it to ease the learning curve in a HOL4 tutorial

Bindings as bounded natural functors

We present a general framework for specifying and reasoning about syntax with bindings. Abstract binder types are modeled using a universe of functors on sets, subject to a number of operations that can be used to construct complex binding patterns and binding-aware datatypes, including non-well-founded and infinitely branching types, in a modular fashion. Despite not committing to any syntactic format, the framework is “concrete” enough to provide definitions of the fundamental operators on terms (free variables, alpha-equivalence, and capture-avoiding substitution) and reasoning and definition principles. This work is compatible with classical higher-order logic and has been formalized in the proof assistant Isabelle/HOL