This book explores the main elements of e-Democracy, the term normally used to describe the implementation of democratic government processes by electronic means. It provides insights into the main technological and human issues regarding governance, government, participation, inclusion, empowerment, procurement and, last but not least, ethical and privacy issues. Its main aim is to bridge the gap between technological solutions, their successful implementation, and the fruitful utilization of the main set of e-Services totally or partially delivered by governments or non-government organizations. Today, various parameters actively influence e-Services' success or failure: cultural aspects, organisational issues, bureaucracy and workflows, infrastructure and technology in general, user habits, literacy, capacity or merely interaction design. This includes having a significant population of citizens who are willing and able to adopt and use online services; as well as developing the managerial and technical capability to implement applications that meet citizens' needs. This book helps readers understand the mutual dependencies involved; further, a selection of success stories and failures, duly commented on, enables readers to identify the right approach to innovation in governmental e-Services. With its balanced humanistic and technological approach, the book mainly targets public authorities, decision-makers, stakeholders, solution developers, and graduate students.

Integration of ICT in Smart Organizations presents the applicable concepts and methodologies of information and communication technologies, such as agent-based technologies, HUB, knowledge management, GRID, and wireless communication. This book covers these concepts, while taking into account the current results and outlining the trends in these fields, also introducing theories for the smooth operation and effective control of smart organizations in an integrated method. The authors of ""Integration of ICT in Smart Organizations"" are researchers and professors with countless years of industrial experience, who share their results in their various fields of research.

In the time of constant technological and managerial advancement, firms of the 21st century are faced with an ongoing quest for implementing more effective strategies and methodologies to remain at the apex of the information resources management industry. Researchers and pioneers of academia incessantly delve into potential solutions to increase efficacy within technological and information resources management, as well as identify the emerging technologies and trends. ""Emerging Information Resources Management and Technologies"" supplies the industry leaders, practicing managers, researchers, experts, and educators with the most current findings on undertaking the operation of the latest information technology reforms, developments, and changes. ""Emerging Information Resources Management and Technologies"" presents the issues facing modern organizations and provides the most recent strategies in overcoming the obstacles of the ever-evolving information management and utilization industry.

Statistics for Business and Economics introduces statistics in the context of contemporary business. Emphasising statistical literacy in thinking, the text applies its concepts with real data and uses technology to develop a deeper conceptual understanding. Examples, activities, and case studies foster active learning in the classroom while emphasising intuitive concepts of probability and teaching students to make informed business decisions. The 14th Edition continues to highlight the importance of ethical behaviour in collecting, interpreting, and reporting on data, while also providing a wealth of new and updated exercises and case studies.

This proceedings volume presents recent theoretical and practical advances in operational research (OR). The papers focus on a number of key areas including combinatorial optimization, integer programming, heuristics, and mathematical programming. In addition, this volume highlights OR applications in different areas such as financial decision making, marketing, e-business, project management, scheduling, traffic and transportation. The chapters are based on papers presented at the 13th Balkan Conference on Operations Research (BALCOR). BALCOR is an established biennial conference. The selected papers promote international collaboration among researchers and practitioners, with a particular focus on the Balkan countries.

Probabilistic modeling represents a subject spanning many branches of mathematics, economics, and computer science to connect pure mathematics with applied sciences. Operational research also relies on this connection to enable the improvement of business functions and decision making. Analyzing Risk through Probabilistic Modeling in Operations Research is an authoritative reference publication discussing the various challenges in management and decision science. Featuring exhaustive coverage on a range of topics within operational research including, but not limited to, decision analysis, data mining, process modeling, probabilistic interpolation and extrapolation, and optimization methods, this book is an essential reference source for decision makers, academicians, researchers, advanced-level students, technology developers, and government officials interested in the implementation of probabilistic modeling in various business applications.

Service organizations and enterprises have the dual challenge of embracing externally-driven variation while simultaneously evolving the enabling of information technology operations and systems. The co-engineering method provides a powerful tool for interdisciplinary decision-making necessary for managing complex interactions between layers of external and enabling services. ""Co-Engineering Applications and Adaptive Business Technologies in Practice: Enterprise Service Ontologies, Models, and Frameworks"" provides knowledge that forms the basis for successful co-engineering of the adaptive complex enterprise for services delivery. Intended for practicing professionals, advanced students, and academicians, this book enables understanding of the deeper issues and challenges in applying IT to solve business problems.

Collecting and presenting the latest research and development results from the leading researchers in the field of industrial database modeling, ""Database Modeling for Industrial Data Management: Emerging Technologies and Applications"" provides a single record of current research and practical applications in industrial database modeling. This book discusses the major aspects of databases for industry data modeling, database models, and database applications in information systems. Readers of ""Database Modeling for Industrial Data Management: Emerging Technologies and Applications"" will gain a complete understanding of the notions, techniques, and methods related to the research and developments of industrial database modeling, which will serve as both a starting point and a reference for their research and developments.

There is a broad consensus amongst law firms and in-house legal departments that next generation "Legal Tech" - particularly in the form of Blockchain-based technologies and Smart Contracts - will have a profound impact on the future operations of all legal service providers. Legal Tech startups are already revolutionizing the legal industry by increasing the speed and efficiency of traditional legal services or replacing them altogether with new technologies. This on-going process of disruption within the legal profession offers significant opportunities for all business. However, it also poses a number of challenges for practitioners, trade associations, technology vendors, and regulators who often struggle to keep up with the technologies, resulting in a widening regulatory "gap." Many uncertainties remain regarding the scope, direction, and effects of these new technologies and their integration with existing practices and legacy systems. Adding to the challenges is the growing need for easy-to-use contracting solutions, on the one hand, and for protecting the users of such solutions, on the other. To respond to the challenges and to provide better legal communications, systems, and services Legal Tech scholars and practitioners have found allies in the emerging field of Legal Design. This collection brings together leading scholars and practitioners working on these issues from diverse jurisdictions. The aim is to introduce Blockchain and Smart Contract technologies, and to examine their on-going impact on the legal profession, business and regulators.

Due to the increasing importance of the intangible assets of a company, firms are now concerned with how best to manage and measure knowledge and other intangibles. ""Strategies for Information Technology and Intellectual Capital: Challenges and Opportunities"" provides a detailed synopsis on the history, origin, taxonomies, ontologies, measurement models, and dynamics of intellectual capital.

Significant research and development advancement has been achieved in enterprise computing, integration, and management. The results of this advancement stimulate the creation of a new class of mission-critical infrastructures, a new category of integration methods and software tools, and a new group of business platforms for cost-effectively exploiting, integrating, and managing business operations across enterprises. ""Enterprise Service Computing: From Concept To Deployment"" presents the emerging service computing, or service-enabled computing, technologies currently preferably used in integrating enterprise-wide and cross-enterprise applications. The topics covered range from concept development, system design, modeling, and development technologies, to the final deployment, providing both theoretical research results and practical applications.

The Enterprise Resource Planning Decade: Lessons Learned and Issues for the Future presents a collection of chapters written by various experts that share a interest in the ERP movement. This collection will generate much interest and contribute to the development of Enterprise-wide systems that provide true support to organizations and the development of methodologies that are less disruptive of organizational day-to-day business than is the case today. When ERP projects stop being the make or break ventures they can be and we stop getting these negative reports about failed implementation, the target will have been met and the ERP market will be less of a jungle than it is today.

A unique insight for both practitioners and academics on how to achieve a 'relationship advantage'. The relationship in information technology (IT) outsourcing often determines the difference between a successful, a less successful, and a failing outsourcing deal. The authors examine five case studies (Xerox, British Aerospace, ESSO, BP, and the UK Inland Revenue), and by way of a novel client-supplier relationship framework they identify the key dimensions of an outsourcing relationship.

This book asks fundamental questions about the extent to which India is participating in the global shift towards knowledge-based forms of competitiveness. It charts Indian performance and progress using a unique framework benchmarked against fourteen other countries. In the course of the analysis, critical areas for improvement are identified, and the book provides detailed and objective insights for policy-makers and researchers to facilitate change and institutional reform in India. Readers will derive a comprehensive understanding of India's performance and prospects as it emerges as a serious global economic player. A particular feature of the work is the development of an original knowledge footprint concept that measures the extent and impact of knowledge development and diffusion domestic and internationally.The views expressed in this book are the author's.

This book presents the outcomes of the 17th IEEE/ACIS International Conference on Computer and Information Science (ICIS 2018), which was held in Singapore on June 6-8, 2018. The aim of the conference was to bring together researchers and scientists, businessmen and entrepreneurs, teachers, engineers, computer users, and students to discuss the various fields of computer science and to share their experiences, and to exchange new ideas and information in a meaningful way. The book includes findings on all aspects (theory, applications and tools) of computer and information science and discusses related practical challenges and the solutions adopted to solve them. The conference organizers selected the best papers from those accepted for presentation. The papers were chosen based on review scores submitted by members of the program committee and underwent a further rigorous round of review. From this second round, 13 of the conference's most promising papers were then published in this Springer (SCI) book and not the conference proceedings. We impatiently await the important contributions that we know these authors will make to the field of computer and information science.

Handbook of Computational Economics: Heterogeneous Agent Modeling, Volume Four, focuses on heterogeneous agent models, emphasizing recent advances in macroeconomics (including DSGE), finance, empirical validation and experiments, networks and related applications. Capturing the advances made since the publication of Volume Two (Tesfatsion & Judd, 2006), it provides high-level literature with sections devoted to Macroeconomics, Finance, Empirical Validation and Experiments, Networks, and other applications, including Innovation Diffusion in Heterogeneous Populations, Market Design and Electricity Markets, and a final section on Perspectives on Heterogeneity.

Contemporary Chief Information Officers: Management Experiences explores the experiences of contemporary Chief Information Officers in the United States, Taiwan, and New Zealand, who agreed to participate and to be identified by name and company. The CIO role is now more of the management role but it still requires knowledge and leadership skills in the application of technology. The focus is now on employing technology to address business goals. Those who aspire be a CIO must know the expectations of the senior management team, the team needs to understand the role they play, and everyone must concur on how they will meet corporate objectives.In addition to providing valuable information about the role of the CIO, Contemporary Chief Information Officers: Management Experiences looks at interaction with other parts of the organization, as well as external relationships with vendors and suppliers. These insights have been provided by practicing CIOs. Their comments will prove valuable to both current CIOs and those who aspire to the role.

This book provides both a broad overview of the forecasting process, covering technological and human aspects alike, and deep insights into algorithms and platform functionalities in the IBP toolbox required to maximize forecast accuracy. Rich in technical and business explanations, it addresses short-, medium- and long-term forecasting processes using functionalities available in demand planning and demand sensing. There are also several theoretical concepts underpinning the algorithms discussed; these are explained with numerical examples to help demystify the IBP forecasting toolbox. Beyond standard procedures, the book also discusses custom approaches (e.g. new segmentation criteria, new outlier detection and correction methods) and new methods (e.g. the use of Markov chains for forecasting sporadic demands), etc. It subsequently benchmarks common practices using these innovative approaches and discusses the results. As measurement is an important precondition for improvement, an entire chapter is devoted to discussing process improvement and value using the Six Sigma methodology. In closing, the book provides several useful tips and tricks that should come in handy during project implementation.

Business Processes: Operational Solutions for SAP Implementation deals with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation, and also business operations/processes and information systems to support business operations/processes. There are a large number of books treating ERP implementation, operations management and information systems separately, but books dedicated to all three topics applied to practical issues of ERP implementation are scarce. However, teaching ERP merely as software does not work. Uniting these three topics in one book allows the reader to avoid the problems of teaching separate fields and then connecting them in one complex solution, providing the opportunity to better educate students.

This book conceptualises and develops crowdsourcing as an organisational business process. It argues that although for many organisations crowdsourcing still implies an immature one-off endeavour, when developed to a more repeatable business process it can harness innovation and agility. The book offers a process model to guide organisations towards the establishment of business process crowdsourcing (BPC), and empirically showcases and evaluates the model using two current major crowdsourcing projects. In order to consolidate the domain knowledge, the BPC model is turned into a heavyweight ontology capturing the concepts, hierarchical relationships and decision-making relationships necessary to establish crowdsourcing as a business process in an organisation. Lastly, based on the ontology it presents a decision tool that provides advice on making informed decisions about the performance of business process crowdsourcing activities.

Electronic mail, personal organizers, voice mail, all were introduced as time-saving devices designed to promote an easier and more efficient workplace. Yet many professionals find that making effective use of these new forms of communication technology can become a time-consuming task. In this handbook written for the office of the 21st century, Barbara Etzel and Peter J. Thomas provide guidance for those struggling to manage the growing volume of mail, memos, e-mail messages, and electronic documents that arrives daily.

Personal Information Management details the skills professionals need to process this information, save time, and work more effectively. Etzel and Thomas present common organizational difficulties and enumerate concrete techniques for overcoming them. They guide the reader through a variety of computer software and hardware products, paper-based information products, and personal time management techniques, helping the reader to develop and individually-tailored Personal Information Management Strategy.

Technologies covered include accounting and business software, word processors, databases, personal organizers, e-mail programs, tracking and storage packages, personal digital assistants, CD-Roms, computer backup devices, scanning device, voice mail, cellular phones, beepers, and fax machines, to name only a few. including an appendix listing the names and addresses of companies that Produce information technologies, Personal Information Technologies is essential reading for anyone suffering from information overload. Designed to be adaptable to emerging technologies, the techniques they provide will be applicable regardless for what the information age brings next.

Steel Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of the U.S. Steel Industry is a remarkable story. Christopher Hall recounts the great downfall of "Big Steel" in America and the emergence of a new, reinvented steel industry from the ashes of the old. Beginning with the failures of Big Steel to respond to a changing world, Christopher Hall analyzes the powers and drives behind this "most basic" of industries, revealing how the "Rust Belt" of the 1970s and 1980s was created and how the death of the traditional steel industry devastated cities such as Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Youngstown. Hall then examines how pioneering entrepreneurs and engineers rebuilt the industry by recycling large supplies of scrap steel, giving way to a minimill industry that ultimately saved what was left of the old Big Steel mills.

This book expands the foundations of general systems theory to enable progress beyond the rich heuristic practices available today. It establishes a foundational framework for the development of scientific transdisciplinary systems principles and shows how these can amplify the potential of individuals and teams working in multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary contexts or striving to translate their progress across disciplinary boundaries. Three general scientific systems principles are presented, and their relevance to the design, analysis, management and transformation of systems is explored. Applying lessons from the history and philosophy science, this book disambiguates key concepts of general systemology, clarifies the role of general systemology within the field of systemology, and explains how general systemology supports other forms of transdisciplinarity. These insights are used to develop new perspectives, strategies and tools for addressing long-standing challenges to the advancement and transdisciplinary application of general insights into the nature of complex systems.The material presented in this book includes comprehensive models of the structure of systemology as a disciplinary field, the structure and significance of the general systems worldview, and the role of general systemology as the heart of systems science, systems engineering and systems practice. It explains what a fully-fledged general theory of systems would look like, what its potential is, what routes are available to us to develop it further, and how to leverage the knowledge we have attained so far. Many examples and analogies show how general systemology has the potential to enable scientific discovery, insightful theory building, and practical innovation in all the disciplines as they study, design, nurture or transform complex systems. This book is essential reading for anyone wishing to master the concepts, terminology, models and strategies needed to make effective use of current general systems knowledge and to engage in the further development of the philosophy, science, and practice of general systemology.

How do people in organizations get the information they need to do their work, and what are the effects of their research --positive and negative--on their organizations? Indeed, says the author of this unique, provocative study, the forces that promote ignorance within organizations often outweigh the drive to obtain knowledge. Johnson explores both sides of the information-seeking dilemma, the reasons why people do and do not look for and get the information they need--and why the multi-billion-dollar technologies that have been developed to facilitate information gathering so often fail. Research-based, with a model to explain how information seeking works in organizations, Dr. Johnson's book will be fascinating, essential reading not only for gatherers of information in all types of organizations, but for the purveyors, their technological support staffs.

The study of information seeking is one of great pragmatic importance for individuals, organizations, and our society. It is also one that is more complex than it might at first appear, presenting many dilemmas for the organization. Chapter 1 provides a basic overview of the importance of information seeking and a definition. Chapter 2 describes the more general communication structure of organizations in which individual information seeking is embedded. While traditional views of structure were based on the need to restrict information access in order to reduce information load, more modern views try to capture how organizations can process ever larger volumes of information. Chapter 3 describes the information fields outside of the organization. Chapter 4 develops a more complete picture of the information carriers that individuals have to select from. Chapter 5 describes the barriers to information seeking which often result from the real benefits of ignorance for both individuals and organizations. Chapter 6 details strategies individuals can use in their search for information. Chapter 7 discusses what management can do to facilitate a seeker's search for information. In summary, Chapter 8 weaves all of the themes of the book together in discussing the importance of the development of a theory of information seeking and the pragmatic implications of information seeking for our society as a whole.