A Shared Vision for Digital Transformation: Codification of The Operating Model Canvas Approach

Digital transformations are essential for organisations to stay competitive in modern economy. A digital transformation demands the business and IT departments of an organisation to be aligned and have a shared vision on the organisation’s future. To aid the generation of a shared vision as a basis for digital transformation, we propose the Operating Model Canvas (OMC) Approach. Its result is the OMC, a model that visualises the organisation’s value propositions, primary and supporting business activities, channels, and actors. We have performed a retrospective case study to codify the process and deliverables of the OMC Approach, to define its scientific fundamentals, and demonstrate its results. We found that the OMC provides a shared language for business and IT departments and subsequently generates them a shared vision. The key elements for generating a shared vision during the approach are the usage of existing client documentation and the active client participation throughout the entire process. We think the OMC can therefore be a solid starting point for a digital transformation project. The scientific contribution of this paper is to add to the theory of digital transformation design by codifying the OMC Approach

Het gazag van gewijsde in burgerlijk landraadzaken

106 h

Success-driven Selection of Fragments for Situational Methods: The S³ Model

Engineering situational methods requires first of all matching the situation with the available method fragments. In this paper, we describe an approach in which not only the situation, but also the success one wants to achieve with a project is taken into account. In the Situation-Success-Scenario (S³) model, the project situation is compared with the project success, which is then related to the set of aspects that are required in the situational method, the project scenario. We give lists of aggregated situation factors, performance indicators, and scenario aspects, mainly taken from the literature on these subjects. We describe a procedure that assists in selecting appropriate method fragments by offering heuristics

Cardiac natriuretic peptides act via p38 MAPK to induce the brown fat thermogenic program in mouse and human adipocytes

The ability of mammals to resist body fat accumulation is linked to their ability to expand the number and activity of “brown adipocytes” within white fat depots. Activation of β-adrenergic receptors (β-ARs) can induce a functional “brown-like” adipocyte phenotype. As cardiac natriuretic peptides (NPs) and β-AR agonists are similarly potent at stimulating lipolysis in human adipocytes, we investigated whether NPs could induce human and mouse adipocytes to acquire brown adipocyte features, including a capacity for thermogenic energy expenditure mediated by uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). In human adipocytes, atrial NP (ANP) and ventricular NP (BNP) activated PPARγ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) and UCP1 expression, induced mitochondriogenesis, and increased uncoupled and total respiration. At low concentrations, ANP and β-AR agonists additively enhanced expression of brown fat and mitochondrial markers in a p38 MAPK–dependent manner. Mice exposed to cold temperatures had increased levels of circulating NPs as well as higher expression of NP signaling receptor and lower expression of the NP clearance receptor (Nprc) in brown adipose tissue (BAT) and white adipose tissue (WAT). NPR-C–/– mice had markedly smaller WAT and BAT depots but higher expression of thermogenic genes such as Ucp1. Infusion of BNP into mice robustly increased Ucp1 and Pgc-1α expression in WAT and BAT, with corresponding elevation of respiration and energy expenditure. These results suggest that NPs promote “browning” of white adipocytes to increase energy expenditure, defining the heart as a central regulator of adipose tissue biology