Complex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly
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Robotic Process Automation in Small Enterprises: An Investigation into Application Potential
Get PDFSubstantial application potential in enterprises is commonly attributed to Robotic Process Automation (RPA). This potential encompasses automation of routine tasks, improvement of data quality, improvement of process stability, or reduction of monotonous tasks. However, our observation from projects with enterprises is that this potential is visible in bigger companies, but not so obvious in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs often show a lower readiness to invest time and resources in new technologies and, thus, hesitate to explore new technology applications unless they see a clear business case. This article investigates the application potential of RPA in SMEs by trying to identify typical application scenarios with potentially high benefits that SMEs should focus on. The application potential is primarily addressed from a qualitative perspective, i.e., the aim is not to quantify the potential but to qualify the application fields. The contributions of this article are (1) a structured literature review of the state of RPA use in SMEs, (2) RPA application scenarios visible in the literature and functionality of RPA platforms to support these scenarios, and (3) experiences from implementing three SME-focused use cases with off-the-shelf RPA tools and a concluding evaluation by experts
Information Systems for Useful Innovation in Enterprises. Editorial Introduction to Issue 37 of CSIMQ
Get PDFInnovation contributes to the economic and societal growth of nations, it creates new jobs, new business models, and new revenue streams as well as allows for the resolution of ever-evolving human needs. Enterprises that aim to thrive in the market must allocate resources and time to innovate besides the usual productivity focus. Innovating, however, is a very challenging task because it requires a high level of knowledge and creativity. Digital transformation (DT), in turn, is the process of adoption and use of digital technologies by an enterprise and sets the scenes for innovation. Further, to be useful for enterprises, innovation solutions should be incorporated into well-established company realities, which is a grand challenge nowadays. Methodological approaches are essential to tackle such a grand challenge. The Information Systems (IS) discipline, which is continuously involved in building its research knowledge base that is relevant to practice, is at the forefront for the creation of methodological approaches for useful innovation in enterprises, which is the central theme of this issue of CSIMQ
The OpenESEA Modeling Language and Tool for Ethical, Social, and Environmental Accounting
Get PDFAssessing business operations’ ethical, social, and environmental impacts is a key practice for establishing sustainable development. There is a multitude of methods that describes how to perform such assessments. Often these methods are supported by an ICT tool. In most cases, the tools are developed to support a single method only and do not allow any tailoring. Therefore, they are rigid and inflexible. In this article, we present a novel model-driven approach for alleviating managerial issues that arise as a consequence of the complex landscape of ethical, social, and environmental accounting methods and tools. We have developed an open-source, model-driven tool, called openESEA. OpenESEA parses and interprets textual models, that are specified according to a domain-specific language (DSL). We have performed another iteration of the DSL engineering process, which is in line with the design science paradigm. We have validated the new DSL version by means of a user study. As a result, we present a new version of the openESEA modeling language and interpreter. The results of the user study with regards to performance, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use of modeling language are encouraging and provide us with a basis to continue developing new versions with more functionalities. The contributions of this work include a new version of the modeling language, a new version of the interpreter, knowledge surrounding the development of these artifacts, and a protocol for evaluating the quality of textual DSLs. The modeling language and interpreter are relevant for sustainability practitioners and consultants since our tool support has the potential to reduce redundancy in ethical, social, and environmental accounting. Our work is valuable to researchers that aim to assess and reduce the complexity of their modeling languages
Supporting Information System Integration Decisions in the Post-Merger Context
Get PDFConsolidation of organizations and assets through Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) is one of the strategies for organizational growth. However, despite the big popularity, the results of M&A initiatives are questionable. The main idea behind M&A is to create a new organization by combining several existing organizations. This new organization is created through a transformation process often called a post-merger. A significant part of the post-merger process is the integration of information systems. The success of post-merger information systems integration is the result of successful integration decisions. This study focuses on the problem of how a novice organization in post-merger initiatives can handle complexity in the decision-making process of post-merger information systems integration with its internal resources, without involvement of an external expertise, but with a support method to compensate the lack of expertise for informed decision-making. The extended decision-making process can be divided into three phases – identification of necessary decisions, decision-making, and decision implementation. This study focuses on the first two phases. For each of the phases, a specialized sub-method was developed, focused, respectively, on the identification of necessary decisions (AMILI) and decision-making as a choice between possible integration options (AMILP). Supporting tools were also developed for each of the sub-methods
Information Security Management in Small Public Sector Organizations: Requirements and Design of a Procedural Approach
Get PDFThe increasing digitalization of enterprises and public authorities has resulted in the growing importance of information technology in everyday operations. In this context, an information security management system (ISMS) has become an essential aspect for most organizations. The dependency on technology for almost every single process in an organization has put ISMS at the top of the corporate agenda of public sector organizations. For public organizations in particular, the NIS 2 Directive describes abstract requirements for the development of an ISMS. On the other hand, only a few public administrations operate an ISMS. In this context, this article analyses the requirements of the NIS-2 Directive and complements them with the obstacles and reasons for success in the introduction of ISMS in small public sector organizations (SPSO). At the same time, minimum requirements should be defined that help municipal administration set up an ISMS quickly and easily. This article summarizes the different requirements and generates a foundation for a rough procedural model, for implementing the upcoming requirements of the NIS 2 Directive in local governments. The article also presents the conceptual design of the procedural model
What Drives Innovation Activities in German SMEs in the Service and Production Sector? An Integration of Theoretical and Empirical Findings
Get PDFInnovation management is an essential prerequisite for the effective and efficient generation, planning, and implementation of ideas and thus for the further development of companies in a dynamic market and competitive environment. In order to investigate the internal innovation potential of production and service companies, this article examines basic success factors and challenges of innovation management in German small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a view to the sector to which they belong. On the basis of a questionnaire and interviews with experts, companies were considered with regard to their assessment of their innovative capacity. Based on an analysis of data from 30 participants, we show that the innovation capacity of SMEs with regard to success factors and challenges in production companies differs significantly from that of service companies. We also find that there is a discrepancy in the assessment of the potential for improvement of success factors and challenges. Our study shows that in the field of German SMEs, there is no “best way” to increase innovative capacity, but it depends on a combination of different factors
Discovering and Assessing Enterprise Architecture Debts
Get PDFThe term Enterprise Architecture (EA) Debts has been coined to grasp the difference between the actual state of the EA and its hypothetical, optimal state. So far, different methods have been proposed to identify such EA Debts in organizations. However, these methods either are based on the transfer of known concepts from other domains to EA or are time and resource intensive. To overcome these shortcomings, we propose an approach that uses an interview format to identify EA Debts in enterprises and a method that allows a qualitative assessment of identified EA Debts. The proposed approach is supported by the designed framework that consists of an interview format and a process for determining thresholds of certain EA Smells
Enterprise Architecture for Integration of Demand-Responsive Services in Public Transport
Get PDFThe popularity of new mobility services (NMS), like car sharing, urban bikes or e-scooters, is increasing in many urban areas. In comparison to traditional supply-oriented public transport with defined timetables and transportation routes, NMS are demand-responsive services aiming to meet the ad-hoc needs of users. NMS have started to influence the way people move in urban areas, and they also have an impact on public transport operators which begin to offer their own NMS or integrate the services of established NMS operators. This article investigates the changes implied by NMS for the enterprise architecture (EA) of public transport operators. The paper presents and evaluates an EA approach for integrating demand-responsive services into traditional supply-oriented public transport. We propose a partial enterprise architecture as an extension of the established ITVU core model, which is an established reference model in the public transportation domain. Although EA management is recognised as relevant for public transport companies, there is a lack of such an extension addressing NMS integration. The contribution of this article are to (1) offer an overview of the state of research in enterprise architectures for public transport, (2) make a case study for illustrating the challenges and requirements of NMS integration, (3) provide a first version of the partial (core) reference EA for integration of NMS including an initial evaluation
Business-IT Alignment: A Discussion on Enterprise Architecture and Blockchains. Editorial Introduction to Issue 35 of CSIMQ
Get PDFNowadays, business operation is impossible without proper alignment between business and IT goals. The alignment foresees integration at different levels: strategic, managerial, technological, and others. In addition, aligning goals should take into account factors arising from interaction with business partners, competitors, customers, and supervisory authorities. The collection of articles included in this issue presents research on the impact of different factors on the achievement of business and IT goal alignment. The first two articles in the collection concern Enterprise Architecture (EA) while the last two articles consider blockchain applications
Exploring Low-Code Development: A Comprehensive Literature Review
Get PDFLow-code development provides the ability to create software using visual application development tools, predefined components, and automation, minimizing the reliance on manual coding. Furthermore, it enables individuals with limited programming expertise to actively contribute to software development in collaboration with information technology (IT) professionals, improving the alignment between customer or business requirements and the developed solution. This approach speeds up the development process, fosters closer collaboration between software development and business teams, and enhances the organization’s ability to respond to business and market demands or changes. In this article, existing knowledge of low-code development from multiple perspectives is summarized, including the definitions, used tools, applied development lifecycles, application areas, potential benefits, challenges, and, consequently, relevant development and delivery principles