"Ade McCormack sounds a much-needed clarion call for IT to "grow up" and become a mature business function"
--Nicholas Carr, Author of "Does IT Matter and The Big Switch"

"The wit, imagination and insight that Ade brings to his regular Boardroom Debate column in the Financial Times Digital Business section shine through his new book. Ade looks at where the power, blame, influence and value in IT all sit as business technology matures and the game shifts towards maximising its value."
--Peter Whitehead, "FT Digital Business" editor

"This excellent book is a must read for anyone in business. As in his first book Ade McCormack demystifies IT and makes it clear, relevant and interesting for business."
--Dr Gerard-Lyons, Chief Economist at Standard Chartered

"Ade McCormack hits at the key issues, the Business/IT relationship can no longer be one of master/slave, but must evolve into one of value based partnership for business advantage. An essential read for those organisations who believe there has to be a third way between traditional business and IT approaches."
--Eddie Short, Vice President, Global Lead - Business Information Management, Capgemini, London

Successful IT value realisation is a cloudy subject. This in part contributes to the overall dissatisfaction many organisations have with IT. This book tackles the subject of IT value realisation head on. Most importantly it provides a model to help CIOs and business leaders maximize the return on their IT investment.

This book is based on the author's "IT Value Stack" methodology, which helps business leaders take control of their IT investment. Boardroom-bound CIOs will also find this book of value. As will those that advise on strategic business-IT matters.

The model is corroborated with input from influential people working within the world's most successful end-user, business advisory and technology organisations.

The book covers: The IT Value Stack ModelBusiness-IT strategy entwinementProcess-IT entwinementUser-technologist entwinementTechnology managementIT service managementCirculation managementValue management.Valuable input from influential contributors from the end-user, technology and advisory communities.

The book focuses on applications of belief functions to business decisions. Section I introduces the intuitive, conceptual and historical development of belief functions. Three different interpretations (the marginally correct approximation, the qualitative model, and the quantitative model) of belief functions are investigated, and rough set theory and structured query language (SQL) are used to express belief function semantics. Section II presents applications of belief functions in information systems and auditing. Included are discussions on how a belief-function framework provides a more efficient and effective audit methodology and also the appropriateness of belief functions to represent uncertainties in audit evidence. The third section deals with applications of belief functions to mergers and acquisitions; financial analysis of engineering enterprises; forecast demand for mobile satellite services; modeling financial portfolios; and economics.

Since SAP is emphasizing recent developments in operations management in its SCM initiative, this book describes the methodological background from the viewpoint of a company using SAP systems. It describes order processing both in an intra- and interorganizational perspective, as well as describing future developments and system enhancements.

"Hands-On Database "uses a scenario-based approach that shows readers how to build a database by providing them with the context of a running case throughout each step of the process.

Data mining has emerged as one of the most active areas in information and c- munication technologies(ICT). With the boomingof the global economy, and ub- uitouscomputingandnetworkingacrosseverysectorand business, data andits deep analysis becomes a particularly important issue for enhancing the soft power of an organization, its production systems, decision-making and performance. The last ten years have seen ever-increasingapplications of data mining in business, gove- ment, social networks and the like. However, a crucial problem that prevents data mining from playing a strategic decision-support role in ICT is its usually limited decision-support power in the real world. Typical concerns include its actionability, workability, transferability, and the trustworthy, dependable, repeatable, operable and explainable capabilities of data mining algorithms, tools and outputs. This monograph, Domain Driven Data Mining, is motivated by the real-world challenges to and complexities of the current KDD methodologies and techniques, which are critical issues faced by data mining, as well as the ?ndings, thoughts and lessons learned in conducting several large-scale real-world data mining bu- ness applications. The aim and objective of domain driven data mining is to study effective and ef?cient methodologies, techniques, tools, and applications that can discover and deliver actionable knowledge that can be passed on to business people for direct decision-making and action-takin

Information technology continues to revolutionarize the way commercial enterprises, government, and individuals conduct business. Sustained success in value creation in today's networked economies depends in part on how organizations are effective in attracting, developing, and retaining talented IS professionals. The magnitude of the challenges that face organizations in managing IS professionals demand clearer and more cohesive strategies than currently exist. Firms with more effective strategies for managing IS professionals will consistently outperform their peers. Studies have shown that the IS profession is now characterized by staff skill shortages, high turnover rates, job stress, and burnout. Strategies for Managing IS/IT Personnel explores the challenges faced by organizations as they develop strategies for recruiting, training, retraining and retaining IT professional. The book should be valuable to all managers, researchers, teachers and students who want to learn about issues related to the IS professional career and how strategies for recruiting, training, retraining and retaining the "best and the brightest" IT talent can be designed, implemented and monitored.

Electronic business today is not only business transactions supported in information and communication technologies; it is a new way of communicating and integrating with customers, suppliers, employees and other stakeholders. In this scenario, electronic business is now part of a wider economic context that is causing radical transformations in business and organizations including the entire value chain from customer service to supply chain management. One of the areas affected is marketing. Given that the new technologies have enabled firms to reach out to global customers and has provided them with the opportunity to customize their strategies and offerings in an unprecedented way, the dynamics of marketing must be surveyed in order to study the impact of new trends like mobile customer relationship management or mass customization on marketing function.

This book provides an overview of the e-Business and Marketing areas by uniting various papers from these fields. "Electronic Business and Marketing" includes theory and practice on electronic business and marketing from an academic and professional viewpoint providing also a forum for the exchange of research ideas and industry practices in these knowledge areas among practitioners, researchers and students.

This book opens the "black box" of software sourcing by explaining how dynamic software alignment is established and how it impacts business performance outcomes. By investigating how software-sourcing modes are related to value generation in the post-implementation phase, it shows researchers and managers the impact logic of on-demand, on-premises, and in-house software on dynamic fit and process-level performance outcomes in a client organization. It describes dynamic IT alignment as the key to success in a fast-moving digital world with software-as-a-service on the rise and highlights the fact that today companies can choose between developing software in-house (make) or sourcing packaged systems in an on-premises (buy) or an on-demand (lease) mode. This book is the first to explicitly compare these sourcing arrangements with each other in terms of alignment and business performance.

Addressed to the management of financial institutions and computer and communications technologists, this book aims to prvide information on the four generations of on-line financial networks which have evolved over the past twenty years in Japan.;The background to the book is electronic banking, and the forward- looking financial industries and the benefits they have achieved.;The author has also recently written "Membership Of The Board Of Directors".

Organizations are information intensive systems, operating in dynamic and competitive markets, structured around complex physical and political infrastructures. This book characterises the critical nature of these environments through strategies for business information technology management (BITM).

Business Intelligence (BI) and Performance Management (PM) - the development and delivery of business insight for users and the management of execution based on that insight - are two solution-types that promise to bring great value to enterprises. Yet most organizations haven't yet realized the elusive bene?ts of these two important disciplines. The reasons for this are manifold. However, the primary causes are the culture of the organization and it leadership. This is a topic, which I've addressed at length in my latest book: Pro?les in Performance - Business Intelligence Journeys and the Roadmap for Change. The culture and leadership of the organization determines the importance and strategic intent surrounding the use of BI and PM. Sadly, most organizations lack the motivation to embrace transparency and accountability - or to align with the strategy of the organization - enabling execution and coordination in unison with the mission. However, once an organization and its leadership are ready to take a step towards real change - creating an environment of openness, sharing and alignment - with BI and PM as its centerpiece - the next question then becomes one of "how and where to begin"? Even with great strategic intent, missteps in the development and deployment of BI and PM and can cause disillusionment and disappointment - lending support to the naysayers of the organization - and leading to failure and abandonment of these critical programs.

After the introduction of Enterprise Information Systems (EIS) and Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) applications to many business organizations, the functional issues such as technical problems, security threats, persistent end-user resistance, and the excessive hidden costs of these systems began coming to light. Cases on Enterprise Information Systems and Implementation Stages: Learning from the Gulf Region focuses on the Gulf region and its lead on the enterprise systems adoption which has exceeded those in many developed countries. This reference book highlights experiences implementing EIS, delivering a comprehensive multi-perspective account of EIS issues, and explores the concerns, risks, and critical success factors of EIS for a variety of organizations. It aims to be beneficial for both practitioners and academics alike.

This volume provides important benchmarks for the integration of entrepreneurship and international business. It extends scholarship beyond the firm as single unit of analysis, instead including the role of the founder/entrepreneur. Exploration of this domain discusses possibilities for theory revision or development as well as providing information about an under-researched segment of companies.

A new look at nearly 20 years of theoretical and practical research on IT outsourcing, this book explores how good IT outsourcing theories shape practice and how effective IT outsourcing practices inform theory. It highlights the importance of examining theories borrowed from economics, strategy, and sociology to study IT outsourcing.

This book is a result of the Seventh International Conference on Information Sys tems Development-Methods and Tools, Theory and Practice held in Bled, Slovenia, Sep tember 21-23, 1998. The purpose of the conference was to address issues facing academia and industry when specifying, developing, managing, and improving information comput erized systems. During the past few years, many new concepts and approaches emerged in the Information Systems Development (ISD) field. The various theories, methods, and tools available to system developers also bring problems such as choosing the most effec tive approach for a specific task. This conference provides a meeting place for IS re searchers and practitioners from Eastern and Western Europe as well as from other parts of the world. An objective of the conference is not only to share scientific knowledge and in terests but to establish strong professional ties among the participants. The Seventh International Conference on Information Systems Develop ment-ISD'98 continues the concepts of the first Polish-Scandinavian Seminar on Current Trends in Information Systems Development Methodologies held in Gdansk, Poland in 1988. Through the years, the Seminar developed into the International Conference on In formation Systems Development. ISD'99 will be held in Boise, Idaho. The selection of papers was carried out by the International Program Committee. All papers were reviewed in advance by three people. Papers were judged according to their originality, relevance, and presentation quality. All papers were judged only on their own merits, independent of other submissions."

Why do some corporate superstars collapse dramatically, while others survive and prosper over many decades? Is the fall primarily caused by 'technical factors', such as poor products and pricing, financial management or market choices, by self-aggrandisement, or perhaps by poor leadership attributes and capabilities? Greg Park argues that ultimately organisational survival and optimal performance over the long term is dependent upon collaborative wisdom. Within the dominant coalition of a successful community or corporation there is an inherited, pervasive, commonly and collectively held dominant logic, comprising leadership principles, perspectives and priorities, based upon universal values which are understood and accepted as satisfying the requirements and aspirations of each stakeholder. This collaborative wisdom ensures cohesive and consistent behaviour across and within every function of a complex, fast-moving organization. Its practical application is reflected in the daily operational decisions of leaders within the organisation, be they divisional, departmental heads or supervisors. Without collaborative wisdom organisational collapse is the inevitable result, primarily through the disintegration of belief, confidence, motivation, cohesion, advocacy and energy within and between key stakeholder groups. Collaborative Wisdom examines the nature and criticality of wisdom as a leadership attribute, how effective operational leadership is not just about knowledge and experience, but more fundamentally about a cognitive mental process which considers and consistently applies fundamental values, principles, perspectives and priorities in an analytical and affective manner. This ensures effective operational leadership and optimal organisational performance over the long term, informed by experience, instinct, intuition, but also by insight, judgment and ultimately, wisdom.

Recent decades have seen substantial growth in the range of assistance programmes for SMEs and entrepreneurs across the world. Once regarded as peripheral to the economy and public policy, the role of small firms and of entrepreneurship is now recognized as of key importance in the economic growth and development strategies of many nations. The range of interventions and support focused on promoting SMEs and entrepreneurship is substantial and expanding, so Government, SMEs and Entrepreneurship Development asks 'what are some of the main policy instruments being used, and how effective are they?' It considers policies in different countries, examines key interventions and tools used to promote entrepreneurship and SME development and concludes with contributions on how to best evaluate their effectiveness. The contributor chapters by academics and practitioners from businesses, enterprise development agencies and governments, are empirical or evidence-based and use both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Drawing on experience from a wide range of both developed and emerging countries and economies, the contributions focus on the broad strategies that different governments and communities have adopted to foster entrepreneurship and SMEs; the policy tools and instruments that can be used to promote small business and entrepreneurship; and on the outcomes of policy instruments and the methods used to evaluate interventions. Their findings will help researchers, policy-makers, economic development officers, civil servants, elected officials, and business associations to better understand the issues in this important field.

In Entrepreneurship and Sustainability the editors and contributors challenge the notion that not-for-profit social entrepreneurship is the only sort that can lead to the alleviation of poverty. Entrepreneurship for profit is not just about the entrepreneur doing well. Entrepreneurs worldwide are leading successful for-profit ventures which contribute to poverty alleviation in their communities. With the challenge of global poverty before them, entrepreneurs continue to develop innovative, business-oriented ventures that deliver promising solutions to this complex and urgent agenda. This book explores how to bring commercial investors together with those who are best placed to reach the poorest customers. With case studies from around the World, the focus of the contributions is on the new breed of entrepreneurs who are blending a profit motive with a desire to make a difference in their communities and beyond borders. A number of the contributions here also recognize that whilst much research has been devoted to poverty alleviation in developing countries, this is only part of the story. Studies in this volume also focus upon enterprise solutions to poverty in pockets of significant deprivation in high-income countries, such as the Appalachia region of the US, in parts of Europe, and the richer Asian countries. Much has been written about the achievements of socially orientated non-profit microfinance institutions. This valuable, academically rigorous but accessible book will help academics, policy makers, and business people consider what the next generation of more commercially orientated banks for the 'bottom billion' might look like.

This book can help overcome the widely observed math-phobia and math-aversion among undergraduate students in these subjects. The book can also help them understand why they have to learn different mathematical techniques, how they can be applied, and how they will equip the students in their further studies. The book provides a thorough but lucid exposition of most of the mathematical techniques applied in the fields of economics, business and finance. The book deals with topics right from high school mathematics to relatively advanced areas of integral calculus covering in the middle the topics of linear algebra; differential calculus; classical optimization; linear and nonlinear programming; and game theory. Though the book directly caters to the needs of undergraduate students in economics, business and finance, graduate students in these subjects will also definitely find the book an invaluable tool as a supplementary reading. The website of the book - ww.emeacollege.ac.in/bmebf - provides supplementary materials and further readings on chapters on difference equation, differential equations, elements of Mathematica (R), and graphics in Mathematica (R), . It also provides materials on the applications of Mathematica (R), as well as teacher and student manuals.

The Internet challenges many basic assumptions about the structure of business processes, channels of distribution, product marketing, competitiveness and resource management. It places new demands on organizations and those determining strategy and direction. There are tools and concepts that can enable managers to face these challenges and give them some appreciation of the consequences of this new technology. In this text, Dick Stroud looks at the business implications of the Internet at a strategic level. Without going into technical details, he looks at what is driving the development of the Internet and how it might impact on a number of aspects of an organization's operations. He then defines strategies that can be adopted and outlines the benefits and weaknesses of each, providing the diagnostic tools to enable managers to make decisions about their own businesses.

This proceedings volume brings together the results of a corporate discussion on research, academic teaching and education in the field of business and economics in the context of globalization. The contributions examine leadership and sustainability, quality and governance and the internationalization of higher education. With a particular focus on business education and business schools, the book discusses the labor market and modernization as well as contemporary trends and challenges. By including both academic papers and contributions from industry, it forges research links between academia, business and industry.

In this book, the author traces the origin of the present information technology revolution, the technological features that underlie its impact, the organizations, and the companies and technologies which are governing current and future growth. It explains how the technology works, how it fits together, how the industry is structured and what the future might bring.

Over the past two decades, many advances have been made in the decision support system (DSS) field. They range from progress in fundamental concepts, to improved techniques and methods, to widespread use of commercial software for DSS development. Still, the depth and breadth of the DSS field continues to grow, fueled by the need to better support decision making in a world that is increasingly complex in terms of volume, diversity, and interconnectedness of the knowledge on which decisions can be based. This continuing growth is facilitated by increasing computer power and decreasing per-unit computing costs. But, it is spearheaded by the multifaceted efforts of DSS researchers. The collective work of these researchers runs from the speculative to the normative to the descriptive. It includes analysis of what the field needs, designs of means for meeting recognized needs, and implementations for study. It encompasses theoretical, empirical, and applied orientations. It is concerned with the invention of concepts, frameworks, models, and languages for giving varied, helpful perspectives. It involves the discovery of principles, methods, and techniques for expeditious construction of successful DSSs. It aims to create computer-based tools that facilitate DSS development. It assesses DSS efficacy by observing systems, their developers, and their users. This growing body of research continues to be fleshed out and take shape on a strong, but still-developing, skeletal foundation.

The research presented in this book discusses how to efficiently retrieve track and trace information for an item of interest that took a certain path through a complex network of manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers. To this end, a super-ordinate system called "Discovery Service" is designed that has to handle large amounts of data, high insert-rates, and a high number of queries that are submitted to the discovery service. An example that is used throughout this book is the European pharmaceutical supply chain, which faces the challenge that more and more counterfeit medicinal products are being introduced. Between October and December 2008, more than 34 million fake drug pills were detected at customs control at the borders of the European Union. These fake drugs can put lives in danger as they were supposed to fight cancer, take effect as painkiller or antibiotics, among others. The concepts described in this book can be adopted for supply chain management use cases other than track and trace, such as recall, supply chain optimization, or supply chain analytics.

Business information systems and business information technology are integral aspects of modern business, and managers in these areas are now expected to have knowledge of human and managerial issues, as well as technical ones. This concise and readable book is a level-by-level primer that addresses the core subjects in business information systems and business information technology to enhance students' understanding of the key areas. Each chapter begins with a case study and features at the end: a summary of major points, glossary of terms, suggested further reading and student activities. Some areas covered include: Different functional areas of business, including accounting, HRM and marketing Development and implementation of information systems Methods to support the analysis and design of policy and practice Strategic management to align information technology with organizational needs Covering the subject matter in a highly accessible manner, this is an ideal text for both undergraduate and masters students on business information systems, business information technology and business information management courses. This text is supplemented with over 900 detailed powerpoint slides for instructors, accessible via the Routledge Instructor Resource page at http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/instructordownload/