This book provides the latest models, methods and guidelines for networked enterprises to enhance their competitiveness and move towards innovative high performance and agile industrial systems.In the new global market, competitiveness and economic growth rely greatly on the move toward innovative high performance industrial systems and agile networked enterprises through the creation and consolidation of non-hierarchical manufacturing networks of multi-national SMEs as opposed to networks based on powerful large-scale companies. Network performance can be significantly improved through more harmonious and equitable peer-to-peer inter-enterprise relationships, conforming decentralized and collaborative decision-making models.Traditional hierarchical manufacturing networks are based on centralized models, where some of the actors involved must adapt themselves to the constraints defined by those who are most dominant. Real-world experiences of such models have revealed some major problems due to the centralized vision of the supply chain and the sub-optimal performance of centralized decision-making. For the current highly dynamic markets, this generates major inefficiencies in operation throughout the supply chain.This book collects the latest research regarding non-hierarchical manufacturing networks and provides enterprises with valuable models, methods and guidelines to improve their competitiveness.

'IT in Business: A Manager's Casebook' examines the impact of new IT initiatives from the business angle. The case material is derived from the year's best research projects from three leading UK Business Schools - Bath, Cranfield and Warwick.

This incisive exploration of managing processes in IT companies is essential reading for IT managers in 'end-user' businesses who have to deliver strong business benefits from IT. In a climate of rapid and continual change, such contemporary information is invaluable.
'IT in Business: A Manager's Casebook' tackles managerial issues using specific case studies such as Tesco, Johnsons News Limited and the Department of Health to illustrate these points.
David Targett is the Professor of Information Management at Imperial College Management School, University of London. For eight years, 1990-98, he was the Professor of Information Systems and Director of the Centre for Research into Strategic Information Systems (CRSIS) at the University of Bath. Previously, he was at the London Business School and before becoming an academic he was an industrial engineer in the motor industry.
David Grimshaw is Senior Lecturer in Information Systems at Cranfield School of Management and was previously at the University of Leeds and Warwick Business School, University of Warwick. He has wide teaching experience and has taught in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Portugal, Russia and Singapore. He has ten years' practical experience in information systems and as an independent consultant has advised many companies on strategic information systems planning and on geographical information systems.
Philip Powell is Professor of Information Systemsat Goldsmiths College, University of London. Prior to this he was Reader in Information Systems and ICAEW Academic Fellow in the Operational Research and Systems Group, and Director of the Information Systems Research Unit at Warwick Business School. Before becoming an academic he worked in insurance, accounting and computing. He has taught in Southampton, Australia and Portugal and held a number of other posts overseas.
Includes projects from three of the leading business schools - Bath, Cranfield, and Warwick
Full of case studies from organizations such as Amtrak and Unilever
Provides up-to-the-minute information on what real-life developments and initiatives that are developing in this area

This book features the latest research in the area of immersive technologies as presented at the 7th International Extended Reality (XR) Conference, held in Lisbon, Portugal in 2022. Bridging the gap between academia and industry, it showcases the latest advances in augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), extended reality (XR) and metaverse and their applications in various sectors such as business, marketing, retail, education, healthcare, tourism, events, fashion, entertainment, and gaming. The volume gathers selected research papers by prominent AR, VR, XR and metaverse scholars from around the world. Presenting the most significant topics and latest findings in the fields of augmented reality, virtual reality, extended reality and metaverse, it will be a valuable asset for academics and practitioners alike.

New technology and organizational structures are transforming the workplace, but management skills have not yet caught up. Harnessing knowledge and using it as a competitive advantage is one of the key priorities of organizations today. Honing Your Knowledge Skills looks at how to define knowledge working and identifies the practical skills of knowledge management needed by line managers. This book shows you how to *handle information overload *become an expert *harness new ideas *turn knowledge into action * keep knowledge skills fresh * understand IT resources and knowledge based systems The New Skills Portfolio is a groundbreaking new series, published in association with the Industrial Society, which re-defines the core management skills managers and team leaders need to be competitive. Each title is action-focused blending 20th century management initiatives/trends with a new flexible skills portfolio.The Industrial Society is one of the largest public training providers in the UK. It has over 10,000 member organisations and promotes best practice through its publishing, consultancy, training and advisory services. For more information contact their website on www.indsoc.co.uk

Over the past 20 years, the field of information systems has grown dramatically in theoretical diversity and global reach. This growth is reflected in the language that policy makers and organizational stakeholders use when they talk about their IT plans. As information technology penetrates further into organizational and global life, it becomes ever more important to articulate assumptions embedded in the discourse. This will help to clarify the complex and yet conceptually improvised or pasted-up worldview that becomes embodied in systems. The assumptions point to particular domains of discourse. The discourse sets up conventions and boundaries. It thus shapes what can or cannot legitimately be talked about, researched, addressed, or solved within the scope of IT.

A number of practical and theoretical topics are discussed in detail, including:
*Globalization, development, and space;
*Mobilization of power;
*ERP systems;
*IS planning and projects;
*Critical research and the study of discourse;
*Public institutions;
*Analytical frameworks.

This book contains the selected proceedings of the Working Conference on Global and Organizational Discourse About Information Technology, sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and held in Barcelona, Spain in December 2002.

The information technology manager's role has changed significantly over the past decade. The performance of an organization is increasingly dependent on the performance of the information technology unit and its top executive. Here the author offers a fly on the wall view of the executive level activities of five Chief Information Officers (CIOs), operating in different industries. Profiles of these CIOs provide valuable insights into the strategic impact of this new role. Profiles of these CIOs, developed from over 200 hours of direct observation, provide valuable insights into the strategic impact of this new role. Other CIOs, executives, information technology researchers, information technology students in upper level or graduate courses, managers of technology and innovation, systems managers, and those interested in organizational behavior will all gain a greater understanding of the CIO's critical role within today's organizations.

The day-to-day work habits of each CIO are observed for one work week, including meetings, mail, phone calls, and travel. The CIOs represent five distinct industries: utilities, manufacturing, government agency, insurance, and university. Despite very different work cultures, all demonstrate a remarkable ability to think on their feet and remain detached from highly charged turf battles. These high tech executives have the playwright's high touch; they are keenly aware of the power of figurative language and the timing of events.

A generation of magnificent scholars, from Peter Drucker to Jack Welch, have taught us that understanding business issues and the profound changes the world's economy is undergoing makes sense if set in historical context. Today the best managers in the world demand to know how things came to be as they are. This collection of essays is designed to give the reader an historical perspective on the fastest growing sector of the work force: knowledge workers. The articles tell you how knowledge workers evolved from manufacturing and agricultural jobs and then go on to give you some insight as to what the future roles of knowledge workers will be. The readings in this volume come from a variety of sources not normally looked at by managers and business executives. There are reports from historians, sociologists, academics, and economic experts. Each chapter begins with a brief introduction on the material, its significance, and something about the context in which it was written, including brief biographical comments on the author. The Rise of the Knowledge Worker is intended for business people, managers, leaders, government employees, and students.

Until now, business systems have focused on selected data within a certain context to produce information. A better approach, says Thierauf, is to take information accompanied by experience over time to generate knowledge. He demonstrates that knowledge management systems can be used as a source of power to outmaneuver business competitors. Knowledge discovery tools enable decision makers to extract the patterns, trends, and correlations that underlie the inner (and inter-) workings of a company. His book is the first comprehensive text to define this important new direction in computer technology and will be essential reading for MIS practitioners, systems analysts, and academics researching and teaching the theory and applications of knowledge management systems.

Thierauf centers on leveraging a company's knowledge capital. Indeed, knowledge is power--the power to improve customer satisfaction, marketing and production methods, financial operations, and other functions. Thierauf shows how knowledge, when developed and renewed, can be applied to a company's functional areas and provide an important competitive advantage. By utilizing some form of internal and external computer networks and providing some type of knowledge discovery software that encapsulates usable knowledge, Thierauf shows how to create an infrastructure to capture knowledge, store it, improve it, clarify it, and disseminate it throughout the organization, then how to use it regularly. His book demonstrates clearly how knowledge management systems focus on making knowledge available to company employees in the right format, at the right time, and in the right place. The result is inevitably a higher order of intelligence in decision making, more so now than could ever have been possible in even the most recent past.

If you: * need to create and build databases; work with data; design forms and reports * want to get the job done, quickly and efficiently * need a self-teaching approach * want results fast then Access 97 for Windows Made Simple is for you! By a combination of tutorial approach, with tasks to do and easy steps, the MADE SIMPLE series of Computer Books from British publisher Butterworth-Heinemann, using British authors and designed for a European audience, stands above all others.

From the people who work exclusively from home to the 'portable' manager with no fixed site, the need to communicate is paramount. Mike Johnson's candid appraisal of teleworking, or telecommuting as it is also known, looks at the key benefits: for the individual it provides the opportunity to work from home; for the company it provides major savings on costs. The down side is the lack of human contact and the anxiety of employees who work away from the centre of things. The ...in brief books provide a critical 'snapshot' of the major management fashions and fads influencing business strategy. They cut through the consultants' jargon and steer a practical, common sense course through the theory and hype. They provide managers with a balanced view based on evidence rather than missionary zeal, so that they can be better informed.

This book collects ECM research from the academic discipline of Information Systems and related fields to support academics and practitioners who are interested in understanding the design, use and impact of ECM systems. It also provides a valuable resource for students and lecturers in the field.

Enterprise content management in Information Systems research Foundations, methods and cases consolidates our current knowledge on how today s organizations can manage their digital information assets. The business challenges related to organizational information management include reducing search times, maintaining information quality, and complying with reporting obligations and standards. Many of these challenges are well-known in information management, but because of the vast quantities of information being generated today, they are more difficult to deal with than ever. Many companies use the term enterprise content management (ECM) to refer to the management of all forms of information, especially unstructured information. While ECM systems promise to increase and maintain information quality, to streamline content-related business processes, and to track the lifecycle of information, their implementation poses several questions and challenges: Which content objects should be put under the control of the ECM system? Which processes are affected by the implementation? How should outdated technology be replaced? Research is challenged to support practitioners in answering these questions."

This book captures and communicates the wealth of architecture experience Capgemini has gathered as a member of The Open Group a " a vendor- and technology-neutral consortium formed by major industry players a " in developing, deploying, and using its a oeIntegrated Architecture Frameworka (IAF) since its origination in 1993. Today, many elements of IAF have been incorporated into the new version 9 of TOGAF, the related Open Group standard. The authors, all working on and with IAF for many years, here provide a full reference to IAF and a guide on how to apply it. In addition, they describe in detail the relations between IAF and the architecture standards TOGAF and Archimate and other development or process frameworks like ITIL, CMMI, and RUP. Their presentation is targeted at architects, project managers, and process analysts who have either considered or are already working with IAF a " they will find many roadmaps, case studies, checklists, and tips and advice for their daily work.

Extensive research conducted by the Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research Program at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, USA, and the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, has yielded valuable insights on why and how design thinking works. The participating researchers have identified metrics, developed models, and conducted studies, which are featured in this book, and in the previous volumes of this series. This volume provides readers with tools to bridge the gap between research and practice in design thinking with varied real world examples. Several different approaches to design thinking are presented in this volume. Acquired frameworks are leveraged to understand design thinking team dynamics. The contributing authors lead the reader through new approaches and application fields and show that design thinking can tap the potential of digital technologies in a human-centered way. It also presents new ideas in neurodesign from Stanford University and the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, inviting the reader to consider newly developed methods and how these insights can be applied to different domains. Design thinking can be learned. It has a methodology that can be observed across multiple settings and accordingly, the reader can adopt new frameworks to modify and update existing practice. The research outcomes compiled in this book are intended to inform and provide inspiration for all those seeking to drive innovation - be they experienced design thinkers or newcomers.

This book contains practical experiences, knowledge, and insights in the evolution, formulation, and implementation of strategies and models for flexibility, innovation, and sustainable business. The book discussed the increasing significance of a flexible approach by businesses as much as possible in every area of their work-from employment policies to supply chain management (SCM). It further links this flexible approach to a sustainability strategy, which is necessary to be competitive today and in the future. This business approach is necessary to create long-term value by considering how a given organization operates in the ecological, social, and economic environment. This is linked to the next theme of the book-innovation-which is fundamental for a business to improve its processes, develop new and improved products and services for the market, increase its efficiency, and, most importantly, get better profitability. The book also delves into another buzz word in business-analytics. Companies have widely embraced the use of analytics to streamline operations and improve processes. The book explores all these critical emerging areas through the chapters in its five sections and is invaluable for management students and researchers, practicing business managers, consultants, professional institutions, and government and corporate organizations.

This important text/reference presents a comprehensive review of techniques for taxonomy matching, discussing matching algorithms, analyzing matching systems, and comparing matching evaluation approaches. Different methods are investigated in accordance with the criteria of the Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative (OAEI). The text also highlights promising developments and innovative guidelines, to further motivate researchers and practitioners in the field. Topics and features: discusses the fundamentals and the latest developments in taxonomy matching, including the related fields of ontology matching and schema matching; reviews next-generation matching strategies, matching algorithms, matching systems, and OAEI campaigns, as well as alternative evaluations; examines how the latest techniques make use of different sources of background knowledge to enable precise matching between repositories; describes the theoretical background, state-of-the-art research, and practical real-world applications; covers the fields of dynamic taxonomies, personalized directories, catalog segmentation, and recommender systems. This stimulating book is an essential reference for practitioners engaged in data science and business intelligence, and for researchers specializing in taxonomy matching and semantic similarity assessment. The work is also suitable as a supplementary text for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate courses on information and metadata management.

The requirements for production systems are constantly changing as a result of changing competitive conditions. This poses a challenge for manufacturers in the various branches of industry and creates an ever-increasing need for flexibility.

With this as a background, this book explores the current developments and trends as well as their impact on today's production systems. It also compares known strategies, concepts and methods used to achieve production flexibility. Similarly, the practical knowledge and current research will be drawn upon and subjected to a sound scientific analysis, through which the technical and organizational flexibility ranges can be measured in their application in a production system. The convenience and usefulness of this concept for manufacturers is substantiated by its implementation in a software tool called ecoFLEX and its practical application, based on extensive examples. This illustrates how flexibility flaws can be quickly identified, classified and properly disposed of using ecoFLEX. This tool helps to close the gap between ERP / PPS systems and digital factory planning tools.

In business it is often necessary to apply a mathematical framework in order to solve everyday problems. This text takes a problem- and context-driven approach with the mathematics introduced only on a need-to-know basis. Care is taken not to overwhelm the student with mathematical techniques but to relate these techniques to specific business areas. The only exception to this form of presentation will be in the first two chapters where the elementary basics of arithmetic and algebra are displayed - albeit here, within financial and commercial contexts as well.

The book throws light on the ongoing trends in international business, integration of information technology with global businesses, its role in value co-creation, resource integration, and service for service exchange. While discussing the issues of these areas, chapters of this book also delve into prevalent problematic areas which are closely related like employment, ethical aspects, power creation, and so on. Recognizing the role digitization and new technologies play in enabling global managers to communicate with outside world directly via digital channels irrespective of their location (which is especially true in time of COVID-19), the book takes an emerging economy perspective and throws light on new theories, perceptions, employment opportunities, and innovative ideas through its content. The book not only discusses effects of information technology but also the latest emerging technology in global business like use of artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning, big data, and their integration with the global business 4.0. Since emergence of these new technologies requires proper infrastructural development, the book also throws light on government initiatives and CSR in this respect. It contains takeaways for both undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and academicians, industry watchers, practitioners, start-ups, and entrepreneurs

This book presents the latest findings and ongoing research in the field of green information systems as well as green information and communication technology (ICT). It provides insights into a whole range of cross-cutting concerns in ICT and environmental sciences and showcases how information and communication technologies allow environmental and energy efficiency issues to be handled effectively. Offering a selection of extended and reworked contributions to the 30th International Conference EnviroInfo 2016, it is essential reading for anyone wanting to extend their expertise in the area.

This open access book discusses the most modern approach to auditing complex digital systems and technologies. It combines proven auditing approaches, advanced programming techniques and complex application areas, and covers the latest findings on theory and practice in this rapidly developing field. Especially for those who want to learn more about novel approaches to testing complex information systems and related technologies, such as blockchain and self-learning systems, the book will be a valuable resource. It is aimed at students and practitioners who are interested in contemporary technology and managerial implications.

The last two decades have seen a shift towards service-based value in a process referred to as servitization. Manufacturers have been challenged to create relevant knowledge and adapt to this change. This book has two key purposes. First of all, the authors examine the theoretical underpinnings of knowledge management and servitization, before proposing a conceptual model for knowledge co-creation and organizational knowledge management processes. Then, the model is tested through a series of case studies from Japan and Malaysia, providing insight into experiences of business transformation from produce-centric to service-centric in developed and developing Asian economies. This book will be of interest to academics, students and practitioners in servitization, knowledge creation and knowledge management, especially those interested in Asian economies.

This book focuses on the issues and challenges posed by COVID-19, proposing ways to deal with the supposed 'new normal' which the pandemic has introduced in the functioning of business, society, and environment. Among the issues discussed are employee well-being and mental health, impact of changes in education sector, marketing, selling and distribution of goods, change in business model for SME, impact on travel and personal grooming sector, consumer preferences, performance impact of intellectual capital, performance of banks-pre merger, and so on. Focus is on presenting strong research results backed by statistical analysis using different tools. There are managerial solutions to the problems being faced by businesses and firms. The presentations would throw great insights on how businesses have coped during pandemic times in a developing economy like India.

Models derived from the Real Business Cycle perspective have recently taken a major place in business cycle research. The papers in this present volume bring three contributions to this research programme: A critical evaluation of the canonical RBC models, new elements of empirical relevance, based on comparative calibration and testing, and new specifications, at the frontier of business cycle research, coping with non walrasian features, contracts and nominal rigidities, unemployment and growth.

Social entrepreneurs are change makers that aim to solve society's unsolved problems. Not surprisingly, social entrepreneurship has thus created high expectations. To better understand the potential as well as the limitations of social entrepreneurship, however, a more nuanced approach is needed in two ways. First, social entrepreneurship is a multi-level phenomenon. It spans macro-level questions as well as meso-level questions and, finally, micro-level questions. If we really want to understand social entrepreneurship, we need to bring together all three levels of analysis and see how they are connected. Second, while social entrepreneurship can certainly produce socially desirable outcomes, we also need a critical perspective to capture potential undesirable effects that social entrepreneurship can cause, often unintendedly, in society, in markets, in organizations, and for individuals. To this end, an ethical perspective can help complement the positive analysis of social entrepreneurship with a discussion of the normative implications of its potential "dark side". Looking at social entrepreneurship from both a multi-level analysis and an ethical perspective, Social Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics takes the reader on a journey through the "bright side" as well as the potential "dark side" of social entrepreneurship for societies, organizations, and individuals. Highlighting both, this book not only seeks to provoke researchers and students to advance their understanding of social entrepreneurship. It also hopes to help practitioners to better realize the positive contributions of social entrepreneurship for society.

This handbook distils the wealth of expertise and knowledge from a large community of researchers and industrial practitioners in Software Product Lines (SPLs) gained through extensive and rigorous theoretical, empirical, and applied research. It is a timely compilation of well-established and cutting-edge approaches that can be leveraged by those facing the prevailing and daunting challenge of re-engineering their systems into SPLs. The selection of chapters provides readers with a wide and diverse perspective that reflects the complementary and varied expertise of the chapter authors. This perspective covers the re-engineering processes, from planning to execution. SPLs are families of systems that share common assets, allowing a disciplined software reuse. The adoption of SPL practices has shown to enable significant technical and economic benefits for the companies that employ them. However, successful SPLs rarely start from scratch, but instead, they usually start from a set of existing systems that must undergo well-defined re-engineering processes to unleash new levels of productivity and competitiveness. Practitioners will benefit from the lessons learned by the community, captured in the array of methodological and technological alternatives presented in the chapters of the handbook, and will gain the confidence for undertaking their own re-engineering challenges. Researchers and educators will find a valuable single-entry point to quickly become familiar with the state-of-the-art on the topic and the open research opportunities; including undergraduate, graduate students, and R&D engineers who want to have a comprehensive understanding of techniques in reverse engineering and re-engineering of variability-rich software systems.