Australian Computer Society: ACS Digital Library
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The Dynamics of Establishing Organisational Web Sites: some puzzling findings
Get PDFA survey of the currently available literature on diffusion of Web technologies reveals that it is at a very early stage of development. As a result, it is difficult, if not impossible, to use existing models to describe or explain the process of establishing organizational Web sites. One of the few theoretical models that can be used as a starting point for research in this area is the Jarvenpaa and Ives (1996) model. The model consists of five propositions that describe what the authors see as the essential aspects of the diffusion of Web technology. The purpose of this paper is to compare data collected in an Australian university to the propositions of the Jarvenpaa and Ives model. The comparison demonstrates that there is a need for a more generic model which would explain the diffusion process of Web technologies in diverse organizational and cultural contexts. The paper is concluded with a discussion of the political, industrial, and cultural reasons that may explain the differences between the dynamics in our case and those described in the Jarvenpaa and Ives model
The Australian Information Systems Research Community: an analysis of mainstream publication outlets
Get PDFThis paper reports on an investigation of the nature of and interactions among the Information Systems academic research community in Australia. The 382 refereed papers from the two mainstream IS refereed publication outlets in Australia were analysed for the period 1990-1996 to determine the contributions of individual universities, departments and authors to the pattern of collaboration, and to examine the nature of the contributors. The study revealed that several institutions, departments and authors dominated the publication outlets and that the majority of the collaboration that occurred took place within university departments. Collaboration between and among different disciplines and nations, and between practitioners and academics was limited. It was found that although the Australian academic IS research community had only recently emerged, it was growing strongly
Evaluation of Workflow Management Systems - A Meta Model Approach
Get PDFThe automated enactment of processes through the use of workflow management systems enables the outsourcing of the
control flow from application systems. By now a large number of systems, that follow different workflow paradigms, are
available. This leads to the problem of selecting the appropriate workflow management system for a given situation. In this paper we outline the benefits of a meta model approach for the evaluation and comparison of different workflow management systems. After a general introduction on the topic of meta modeling the meta models of the workflow management systems WorkParty (Siemens Nixdorf) and FlowMark (IBM) are compared as an example. These product specific meta models can be generalized to meta reference models, which helps to specify a workflow methodology. Exemplary, an organisational reference meta model is presented, which helps users in specifying their requirements for a workflow management system
The Long Term Effects of Electronic Commerce and Data Interchange on Firms
Get PDFThis research aims to identify the determinants of electronic commerce effectiveness, as well as the variation over time of their effect. A two-phased study was undertaken for this purpose, using EDI as a specific form of electronic commerce. Sixty-five organisations were surveyed twice over a three-year period. In Phase 1, determining factors were found to be the level of organisational support, the rigour of the implementation process, the presence of control procedures, and the level of internal integration, external integration and imposition of EDI. Imposition also has a negative effect on the organisational context of EDI. In Phase 2, the implementation process, internal integration and imposition lost their importance, whereas the effect of imposition on the organisational context became positive. In the future, we expect the security and external integration to be the most important success factors of electronic commerce
Analysis of Expectations of Electronic Grocery Shopping for Potential Customer Segments
Get PDFThe special nature of groceries, especially perishables, challenges the possibilities of digital channels i.e. computers and networks to improve customer service. We report the findings of theme interviews on the potential of electronic commerce (EC) of groceries with 33 experts of grocery industry and EC, most of them senior executives, in 23 organisations in Finland during the Autumn of 1997. The specific areas of interest in the study are the predicted volume of EC in grocery shopping, the most potential customer segments, the anticipated benefits of EC to customers, and supplier strategies and infrastructure alternatives. Benefits of ECS (electronic grocery shopping) are analysed for three selected potential customer groups in terms of phases in consumer buying process as well as two different infrastructure solutions. It seems that an EGS build on top of current grocery industry infrastructure can only satisfy one major consumer group. In order to gain momentum EGS needs a dedicated infrastructure within which logistic efficiency can be increased
Planning and Designing Web- Based Electronic Commerce: a case study in the insurance industry
Get PDFElectronic Commerce (EC) comprises new ways of doing business with customers, suppliers and other business partners. EC is enabled by information and communication technology, in particular the World Wide Web (in short, the Web). While numerous organisations have started to use the Web as an interface to clients and business partners, many have been disappointed by lower than expected response rates and higher than expected costs. One reason for non profitable Web based EC applications is that they do not reflect the strategic preconditions of EC. This lack may be due to deficits in the process of developing an EC-strategy for their Web application. Furthermore, there is a void of instruments and tools to support this process. In order to fill this void, this paper proposes two basic frameworks for planning a Web based EC application. The application of these frameworks is illustrated by the example of a medium seized insurance company. Based on experiences drawn from the case study, the proposed frameworks will be evaluated
Content Provision on the Web: an economic challenge for TV stations
Get PDFIncreasingly, TV stations are introducing online services as they seem to hold economic potential and open new markets. Nevertheless, networks have apparently until now been neglecting a careful evaluation of online services' strategic and economic potentials, which ultimately is a prerequisite to develop these markets and thus to profit from them.
Objective of this paper is to analyse some exemplary TV online services offered by the Clobo TV network, the largest television network in Brazil, as well as to assess their strategic potential and their economic benefit
Towards Guidelines for Development and Management of Transnational Information Systems
Get PDFThis paper focuses on transnational information systems (TIS) that cross organisational as well as international boundaries. Such systems are being built and used in increasing numbers, but very little attention has been paid to US in the literature. This paper describes an empirical study which gathered case study data from four TIS projects. The data were used to describe problems encountered during TIS development and management and to discuss solutions found for those problems. An interesting finding was that organisations tend to address difficulties by lowering the level of aspiration of the TIS rather than addressing difficulties head-on
A Fresh Look at Integrated Business Applications - Neither Package nor Custom - Made
Get PDFSince integrated business applications demonstrate weaknesses, intermediate solutions positioned in between packages and custom-made software need to be explored. One suggestion for such an adaptable architecture uses a functionally stable core with peripheral applications. This architecture accounts for software market dynamics and interests of different parties involved. The ideas developed stem from a case study in the German market for small business software. The case describes the problems within this business configuration and presents a technical solution that implements a core application approach. The concept could turn out to be useful for other business networks, as first hypotheses hint
Evaluation of Database Modeling Methods for Geographic Information Systems
Get PDFWe present a systematic evaluation of different modeling techniques for the design of Geographic Information Systems as we experienced them through theoretical research and real world applications. A set of exemplary problems for spatial systems on which the suitability of models can be tested is discussed. We analyse the use of a specific database design methodology including the phases of conceptual, logical and physical modeling. By employing, at each phase, representative models of classical and object-oriented approaches we assess their efficiency in spatial data handling. At the conceptual phase, we show how the Entity-Relationship, EFO and OMT models deal with the geographic needs; at the logical phase we argue why the relational model is good to serve as a basis to accommodate these requirements, but not good enough as a stand alone solution