This book presents a variant of UML that is especially suitable for agile development of high-quality software. It adjusts the language UML profile, called UML/P, for optimal assistance for the design, implementation, and agile evolution to facilitate its use especially in agile, yet model based development methods for data intensive or control driven systems. After a general introduction to UML and the choices made in the development of UML/P in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 includes a definition of the language elements of class diagrams and their forms of use as views and representations. Next, Chapter 3 introduces the design and semantic facets of the Object Constraint Language (OCL), which is conceptually improved and syntactically adjusted to Java for better comfort. Subsequently, Chapter 4 introduces object diagrams as an independent, exemplary notation in UML/P, and Chapter 5 offers a detailed introduction to UML/P Statecharts. Lastly, Chapter 6 presents a simplified form of sequence diagrams for exemplary descriptions of object interactions. For completeness, appendixes A-C describe the full syntax of UML/P, and appendix D explains a sample application from the E-commerce domain, which is used in all chapters. This book is ideal for introductory courses for students and practitioners alike.

Information Systems Action Research is organized into three parts: the first part focuses on the methodological issues that arise when action research methods are conducted; the second part provides examples of action research in practice; and the third part will summarize the philosophical foundations of action research and its application as a methodology in Information Systems research and research programs. The book will include chapters from Europe, Australasia, and the Americas representing different traditions and perspectives in action research. These chapters will come from prominent scholars in the areas, who are widely recognized as authors of seminal ideas in action research.

Thierauf's work develops a number of interesting and potentially useful approaches to management information systems (MIS) practice. The author presents a number of techniques (some well known, others more recent) that practicing MIS managers may adopt to facilitate effective MIS planning for the 1990's by focusing on problem finding rather than on problem solving. A primary recommendation of Thierauf's is the restructuring of the MIS organization using a functional (end-user) departmental approach. Discussed at length are various issues relevant to this restructuring, such as staffing, motivating MIS personnel and end users, and MIS soft' controls. Recommended for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students as well as practicing managers and MIS specialists. "Choice"

With new developments in hardware and software, MIS managers are increasingly faced with the need to develop more sophisticated managerial--as opposed to purely technical--skills. Here, an acknowledged expert in the field of information systems draws on his own original research and experience to develop a set of workable strategies and techniques that MIS managers can use to function more effectively as we move into the next decade. Thierauf identifies probable trends in the field in coming years and outlines ways in which MIS managers can anticipate predictable problems, apply improved management skills to the end-user interface, and effectively motivate MIS personnel.

Thierauf concentrates particularly on four major areas of managerial responsibility: planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling. In planning, he shows how to use problem-finding techniques to anticipate and solve potential problems between MIS personnel and end-users. To help reduce this conflict, Thierauf argues, there is a need for a new direction in organizing MIS departments. He proposes bringing MIS and end-use departments together by using a functional departmental approach. In motivating MIS personnel, there is need to go beyond self-actualization by emphasizing mutual actualization as well as self donation. Finally, in the area of control, Thierauf advocates the use of soft controls to replace stringent controls that have had a tendency to restrict personal freedom on the job. A common thread througout the discussion is a focus on effective guidelines for the MIS manager to follow in order to come to grips with the changing realities of the 1990s.

The serious difficulties facing the developer of international information systems (i.e. supporting business functions in different countries) are widely known and their propensity to catastrophic failure has been acknowledged among practitioners for quite some time. Despite the often pivotal importance that such systems generally have scholarly research in this field has been surprisingly sparse. Information technology applications with a global range and reach are still largely unstudied and under-explored. Subsequently there is a distinct dearth of theoretical frameworks for dealing with them. After a career in information technology line management I have been involved with multinational enterprises and their information systems for over a decade as a consultant, working in Africa, the UK, continental Europe, North America and Australasia. It was on joining a university in the early nineties that I discovered the near-vacuum in this field of research. When I decided to make international information systems my field of research it became clear that fairly fundamental work needed to be done. I started the project described further on more than 10 years ago. It turned out a fairly difficult, necessarily broad based and, eventually, longitudinal research.

This book attempts to create awareness about the UN-MDGs and how various ICT can be harnessed to appeal to different demographics. Current empirical evidence suggests that MDG awareness is relatively low particularly in developed countries, and that the levels of MDG awareness vary considerable across socioeconomic variables or demographics from United Nations perspective. It also examines how ICT can be used to bring about technical and social innovations strengthen livelihoods, support economic development, water and climate resilience and improve the education and health sectors and enhance development opportunities. Several studies are highlighted that reinforce the view that government support and private sector expertise and funding are important factors in ICT-based e-government solutions in developing countries. The book also builds on the thesis that a strong connection between competencies in mathematics, science, and information communication/technology is required to build logical concepts and critical thinking skills. It also examines the opportunities and barriers of promoting students' learning skills, including communication, cooperation, collaboration and connection using the Wiki tool under the blackboard platform. Finally, the book also highlights the challenges involved in application of ICT in education. This is significant for educators in order to surmount these obstacles and consequently successfully incorporate ICT into the educational system. The chapters present the relevant literature on ICTs and the perceived barriers to ICT integration in basic education. They also focus on the implications of incorporating ICT in the basic educational system. The challenges confronting the integration of ICT in education are equally identified with a view to ensuring a more efficient application of ICT in attaining education for all.

This book highlights research that contributes to a better understanding of emerging challenges in information systems (IS) outsourcing. Important topics covered include: how to digitally innovate through IS outsourcing; how to govern outsourced digitalization projects; how to cope with complex multi-vendor and micro-services arrangements; how to manage data sourcing and data partnerships, including issues of cybersecurity; and how to cope with the increasing demands of internationalization and new sourcing models, such as crowdsourcing, cloud sourcing and robotic process automation. These issues are approached from the client's perspective, vendor's perspective, or both. Given its scope, the book will be of interest to all researchers and students in the fields of Information Systems, Management, and Organization, as well as corporate executives and professionals seeking a more profound analysis of the underlying factors and mechanisms of outsourcing.

This book presents strategies and practices to allow everyday companies to cope with the fundamentally changing landscape of business models and to take advantage of the huge business opportunities arising from the advent of big data. It develops several case studies from companies in traditional industries like LEGO, Yamato and Mediq, but also examines small start-ups like Space Tango, which is partnering with major multinationals to develop new business models using big data. The book argues that businesses need to adapt and embark on their big data journey, helps them take the first step, and guides them along their way. It presents successful examples and deducts essential takeaway lessons from them, equipping executives to capitalize on big data and enabling them to make intelligent decisions in the big data transformation, giving their companies an essential competitive edge.

This two-volume handbook presents a collection of novel methodologies with applications and illustrative examples in the areas of data-driven computational social sciences. Throughout this handbook, the focus is kept specifically on business and consumer-oriented applications with interesting sections ranging from clustering and network analysis, meta-analytics, memetic algorithms, machine learning, recommender systems methodologies, parallel pattern mining and data mining to specific applications in market segmentation, travel, fashion or entertainment analytics. A must-read for anyone in data-analytics, marketing, behavior modelling and computational social science, interested in the latest applications of new computer science methodologies. The chapters are contributed by leading experts in the associated fields.The chapters cover technical aspects at different levels, some of which are introductory and could be used for teaching. Some chapters aim at building a common understanding of the methodologies and recent application areas including the introduction of new theoretical results in the complexity of core problems. Business and marketing professionals may use the book to familiarize themselves with some important foundations of data science. The work is a good starting point to establish an open dialogue of communication between professionals and researchers from different fields. Together, the two volumes present a number of different new directions in Business and Customer Analytics with an emphasis in personalization of services, the development of new mathematical models and new algorithms, heuristics and metaheuristics applied to the challenging problems in the field. Sections of the book have introductory material to more specific and advanced themes in some of the chapters, allowing the volumes to be used as an advanced textbook. Clustering, Proximity Graphs, Pattern Mining, Frequent Itemset Mining, Feature Engineering, Network and Community Detection, Network-based Recommending Systems and Visualization, are some of the topics in the first volume. Techniques on Memetic Algorithms and their applications to Business Analytics and Data Science are surveyed in the second volume; applications in Team Orienteering, Competitive Facility-location, and Visualization of Products and Consumers are also discussed. The second volume also includes an introduction to Meta-Analytics, and to the application areas of Fashion and Travel Analytics. Overall, the two-volume set helps to describe some fundamentals, acts as a bridge between different disciplines, and presents important results in a rapidly moving field combining powerful optimization techniques allied to new mathematical models critical for personalization of services. Academics and professionals working in the area of business anyalytics, data science, operations research and marketing will find this handbook valuable as a reference. Students studying these fields will find this handbook useful and helpful as a secondary textbook.

In the field of genetic and evolutionary algorithms (GEAs), a large amount of theory and empirical study has been focused on operators and test problems, while problem representation has often been taken as given. This book breaks with this tradition and provides a comprehensive overview on the influence of problem representations on GEA performance. The book summarizes existing knowledge regarding problem representations and describes how basic properties of representations, such as redundancy, scaling, or locality, influence the performance of GEAs and other heuristic optimization methods. Using the developed theory, representations can be analyzed and designed in a theory-guided matter. The theoretical concepts are used for solving integer optimization problems and network design problems more efficiently. The book is written in an easy-readable style and is intended for researchers, practitioners, and students who want to learn about representations. This second edition extends the analysis of the basic properties of representations and introduces a new chapter on the analysis of direct representations.

In Sustaining Cultural Development, Biljana Mickov and James Doyle argue that effective programmes to promote greater participation in cultural life require substantial investment in research and strategic planning. Using studies from contributors throughout Europe, they look at ways to promote cultural life as the centre of the broader sustainable development of society. These studies illustrate how combining cultural identity, cultural diversity and creativity with increased participation of citizens in cultural life improves harmonized cultural development and promotes democracy. They indicate a shift from traditional governance of the cultural sector to a new, more horizontal, approach that links cultural workers at different levels in different sectors and different locations. This book will stimulate debate amongst cultural leaders, city managers and other policy makers, as well as serving as a resource for researchers and those teaching and learning on a range of post-graduate courses and programmes.

This edited book delves into important current issues and trends in internal communication from a strategic communication perspective. It presents recent research findings, theories, best practices, and cases in internal communication on a global scale. The book discusses emerging and important long-standing issues in-depth, including topics such as employee advocacy, internal social media, internal issue management and crisis communication, employee activism, purposeful communication, leadership communication, internal CSR communication, cross-cultural/global internal communications, internal communication, and employee well-being. Within these topics, the chapters address the function of internal communications in contemporary times, the role of leaders, how to integrate emerging technologies, building an internal brand, and measuring the effectiveness of internal communication. This book will be a comprehensive source on internal communication, especially on its new theoretical development related to the emerging issues and trends, best practices, and future directions for research and practice.

'This open access book addresses an urgent issue on which little organized information exists. It reflects experience in Africa but is highly relevant to other fragile states as well.' -Constantine Michalopoulos, John Hopkins University, USA and former Director of Economic Policy and Co-ordination at the World Bank Fragile countries face a triple data challenge. Up-to-date information is needed to deal with rapidly changing circumstances and to design adequate responses. Yet, fragile countries are among the most data deprived, while collecting new information in such circumstances is very challenging. This open access book presents innovations in data collection developed with decision makers in fragile countries in mind. Looking at innovations in Africa from mobile phone surveys monitoring the Ebola crisis, to tracking displaced people in Mali, this collection highlights the challenges in data collection researchers face and how they can be overcome.

"How are business models purposeful designed and structured? How can the models be implemented professionally and managed successfully and sustainably? In what ways can existing business models be adapted to the constantly changing conditions? In this clearly structured reference work, Bernd W. Wirtz gives an answer to all these issues and provides the reader with helpful guidance. Although, 'Business Model Management' is first and foremost a scientific reference book, which comprehensively addresses the theory of business models, with his book Bernd W. Wirtz also turns to practitioners. Not least, the many clearly analyzed case studies of companies in different industries contribute to this practical relevance. My conclusion: 'Business Model Management' is an informative and worthwhile read, both for students of business administration as a textbook as well as for experienced strategists and decision makers in the company as a fact-rich, practical compendium." Matthias Muller, Chief Executive Officer Porsche AG (2010-2015), Chief Executive Officer (2015-2018) Volkswagen AG "In dynamic and complex markets a well thought out business model can be a critical factor for the success of a company. Bernd Wirtz vividly conveys how business models can be employed for strategic competition and success analysis. He structures and explains the major theoretical approaches in the literature and practical solutions in an easy and understandable way. Numerous examples from business practice highlight the importance of business models in the context of strategic management. The book has the potential to become a benchmark on the topic business models in the German-speaking world." Hermann-Josef Lamberti, Member of the Board Deutsche Bank AG 1999-2012/ Member of the Board of Directors, Airbus Group "The business environment has become increasingly complex. Due to changing conditions, the executive board of a company is confronted with growing challenges and increasing uncertainty. Thus, a holistic understanding of the corporate production and performance systems is becoming more and more important. At this point, Bernd W. Wirtz introduces and presents the concept of the structured discussion of the own business model. Business models present operational service processes in aggregated form. This holistic approach channels the attention of management, supports a sound understanding of relationships and facilitates the adaption of the business to changing conditions. The management of business models is thus an integrated management concept. Through the conceptual presentation of complex issues the author makes a valuable contribution to the current literature. In particular, the referenced case studies from various industries make the book clear and very applicable to practice." Dr. Lothar Steinebach, Member of the Board, Henkel AG 2007-2012/ Supervisory Board, ThyssenKrupp AG

This book presents the application of a comparatively simple nonparametric regression algorithm, known as the multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) surrogate model, which can be used to approximate the relationship between the inputs and outputs, and express that relationship mathematically. The book first describes the MARS algorithm, then highlights a number of geotechnical applications with multivariate big data sets to explore the approach's generalization capabilities and accuracy. As such, it offers a valuable resource for all geotechnical researchers, engineers, and general readers interested in big data analysis.

The importance of benchmarking in the service sector is well recognized as it helps in continuous improvement in products and work processes. Through benchmarking, companies have strived to implement best practices in order to remain competitive in the product- market in which they operate. However studies on benchmarking, particularly in the software development sector, have neglected using multiple variables and therefore have not been as comprehensive. Information Theory and Best Practices in the IT Industry fills this void by examining benchmarking in the business of software development and studying how it is affected by development process, application type, hardware platforms used, and many other variables. Information Theory and Best Practices in the IT Industry begins by examining practices of benchmarking productivity and critically appraises them. Next the book identifies different variables which affect productivity and variables that affect quality, developing useful equations that explaining their relationships. Finally these equations and findings are applied to case studies. Utilizing this book, practitioners can decide about what emphasis they should attach to different variables in their own companies, while seeking to optimize productivity and defect density.

The introduction of Enterprise Identity Management Systems (EIdMS) in organizations even beyond the purely technological level is a costly and challenging endeavor. However, for decision makers it seems difficult to fully understand the impacts and opportunities arising from the introduction of EIdMS. This book explores the relevant aspects for an ex-ante evaluation of EIdMS. Therefore it examines this domain by employing a qualitative expert interview study to better understand the nature of EIdMS, as they are situated between security and productive IT systems. To this regard, the focus is put on the general nature of EIdMS projects and the constructs being relevant for analyzing such projects in the decision support phase. Based on the derived constructs and thematic topics from the interviews, an explanatory model for EIdMS introductions is derived and iteratively improved and evaluated. Finally, a possible application use-case for the creation of adequate decision support tools is presented.

Process management affects the functioning of every organization and consequently affects each of us. This book focuses on the multi-disciplinary nature of process management by explaining its theoretical foundations in relation to other areas such as process analysis, knowledge management, and simulation. A crucial linkage between theory and concrete methodology of Tabular Application Development (TAD) is presented as a practical approach consisting of five phases that deal with process identification and modeling, process improvement, development of a process management system and finally - monitoring and maintenance. This book is important for researchers and students of business and management information systems, especially those dealing with courses on process management or related fields. Managers and professionals in process management will also find this book to be useful for their everyday business.

Continuous technological innovation amidst the increasing complexity of organizational structures and operations has created the need to achieve a new level of skillful performance and innovative procedures within the information resources management sector. ""Best Practices and Conceptual Innovations in Information Resources Management: Utilizing Technologies to Enable Global Progressions"" provides authoritative insight into emerging developments in information resources management and how these technologies are shaping the way the world does business, creates policies, and advances organizational practices. With chapters delving into pertinent aspects of such disciplines as knowledge management, open source software, systems engineering, project management, and IT governance, this book offers audiences solutions for improved organizational functioning.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a critical role in rejuvenating and sustaining the modern economy, generating substantial employment and serving as important innovation engines for the global economy. Global Perspectives on Small and Medium Enterprises and Strategic Information Systems: International Approaches aims to spread research conducted on SMEs internationally and place it at the disposal of academics, practitioners, consultants, the vendor community, and policymakers. The goal of this book is to highlight the challenges faced by SMEs and how they are coping with the adverse environment through skillful use of IT and technologies such as Web 2.0, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), e-commerce, open source software, Business Process Digitization (BPD), and other emerging technologies.

In many countries, small businesses comprise over 95% of the proportion of private businesses and approximately half of the private workforce, with information technology being used in more than 90% of these businesses. As a result, governments worldwide are placing increasing importance upon the success of small business entrepreneurs and are providing increased resources to support this emphasis. Managing Information Technology in Small Business: Challenges and Solutions presents research in areas such as IT performance, electronic commerce, internet adoption, and IT planning methodologies and focuses on how these areas impact small businesses.

"Decision Systems and Non-stochastic Randomness" is the first systematic presentation and mathematical formalization (including existence theorems) of the statistical regularities of non-stochastic randomness. The results presented in this book extend the capabilities of probability theory by providing mathematical techniques that allow for the description of uncertain events that do not fit standard stochastic models. The book demonstrates how non-stochastic regularities can be incorporated into decision theory and information theory, offering an alternative to the subjective probability approach to uncertainty and the unified approach to the measurement of information. This book is intended for statisticians, mathematicians, engineers, economists or other researchers interested in non-stochastic modeling and decision theory.

Putting capability management into practice requires both a solid theoretical foundation and realistic approaches. This book introduces a development methodology that integrates business and information system development and run-time adjustment based on the concept of capability by presenting the main findings of the CaaS project - the Capability-Driven Development (CDD) methodology, the architecture and components of the CDD environment, examples of real-world applications of CDD, and aspects of CDD usage for creating business value and new opportunities. Capability thinking characterizes an organizational mindset, putting capabilities at the center of the business model and information systems development. It is expected to help organizations and in particular digital enterprises to increase flexibility and agility in adapting to changes in their economic and regulatory environments. Capability management denotes the principles of how capability thinking should be implemented in an organization and the organizational means. This book is intended for anyone who wants to explore the opportunities for developing and managing context-dependent business capabilities and the supporting business services. It does not require a detailed understanding of specific development methods and tools, although some background knowledge and experience in information system development is advisable. The individual chapters have been written by leading researchers in the field of information systems development, enterprise modeling and capability management, as well as practitioners and industrial experts from these fields.

This book explains how various forms of artificial intelligence, namely machine learning, natural language processing, and robotic process automation, could provide a source of competitive advantage to firms deploying them compared to those firms that would not have deployed these technologies. The advantages of machine learning, natural language processing, and robotic process automation in strategy formulation and strategy implementation are explored. The book illustrates the potential sources of advantage for the strategy formulation and strategy implementation processes, which can be derived from the deployment of each form of artificial intelligence.

The book "Soft Computing for Business Intelligence "is the remarkable output of a program based on the idea of joint trans-disciplinary research as supported by the Eureka Iberoamerica Network and the University of Oldenburg.

It contains twenty-seven papers allocated to three sections" Soft Computing," "Business Intelligence and Knowledge Discovery," and "Knowledge Management and Decision Making." Although the contents touch different domains they are similar in so far as they follow the BI principle Observation and Analysis while keeping a practical oriented theoretical eye on sound methodologies, like Fuzzy Logic, Compensatory Fuzzy Logic (CFL), Rough Sets and other soft computing elements.

The book tears down the traditional focus on business, and extends Business Intelligence techniques in an impressive way to a broad range of fields like medicine, environment, wind farming, social collaboration and interaction, car sharing and sustainability. "

Concurrent Enterprising: Toward the Concurrent Enterprise in the Era of the Internet and Electronic Commerce presents the concurrent enterprise business model and concurrent enterprising approach, which is emerging as a crucial challenge for organizations in all geographical locations and economic sectors. To achieve this goal, this book deals with the main aspects of the merging context in which enterprises are doing business. This context is characterized by the fastest-spread information and communication technologies (ICT) that constitute the new infrastructure of the global marketplace. This book discusses a set of the most advanced enterprise paradigms created during the 1980s and 1990s, most of them supported by advanced research programs, especially in the worldwide manufacturing industry. The book discusses differences between these enterprise paradigms and presents Internet-related technologies as a main driver toward a new business model. It then examines less theoretical questions - among them, how to implement this new business model and how companies can move to the concurrent enterprise paradigm in creating a concurrent business environment. And it introduces a methodology for enterprises willing to maintain or even improve their competitiveness in the global marketplace. The book has eight chapters. The first two concentrate on the advanced enterprise paradigms, and their advantages and limits for maintaining or improving competitiveness in the global marketplace. Chapter 3 studies, separately, the virtual enterprise and related approaches. Chapter 4 studies another fundamental ingredient of the new business model - concurrent engineering (CE). Chapter 5 summarizes these preceding approaches and establishes a foundation for building a concurrent enterprise. Chapter 6 presents specific business cases illustrating the advantages and limits of virtual enterprise applications and introduces electronic commerce and electronic documents. Chapter 7 presents concurrent enterprise as a new business model, and Chapter 8 synthesizes the concurrent enterprising process. Concurrent Enterprising: Toward the Concurrent Enterprise in the Era of the Internet and Electronic Commerce is a reference and a user's guide designed for business managers, IT managers, engineers, researchers, scientists, and other individuals interested in learning how to use a sustainable business model driven by the Internet and electronic commerce.