236 research outputs found
Managing IT Outsourcing Risk: Lessons Learned
No full textThis document takes stock from several studies on outsourcing risk. A definition of risk is offered and illustration from many case studies is used to show how risk can be managed. Results show that an active risk management approach can reduce risk exposure subtantially while enabling the organizations to still reap the benefits associated with outsourcing. Cet article fait un constat des leçons tirées de récentes analyses du risque d'impartition. Une définition opérationnelle du risque d'impartition est donnée. Les mécanismes de gestion de risque sont également discutés. Les résultats de différentes études démontrent qu'une gestion active du risque permet de réduire sensiblement les niveaux d'exposition au risque, notamment dans le cas de contrats d'impartition des technologies de l'information.Outsourcing of IS, IS risk management, agency theory, transaction cost economics, decision making under risk and uncertainty, Impartition, gestion des risques, agence, coûts de transaction, décision, risque et incertitude
IT Outsourcing Risk Management at British Petroleum
No full textThis paper reports the results of a study of three successive IT outsourcing contracts at British Petroleum (BP). We offer an operational definition of IT outsourcing risk and use it to assess the risk exposure associated with each contract. We then examine how the management at BP dealt with outsourcing risk. Our results show that careful and deliberate risk management can substantially attenuate the level of risk exposure, and that IT outsourcing risks can be managed. Ce document présente les résultats d'une étude de trois contrats d'impartition successifs. L'étude fut conduite chez British Petroleum. Une définition opérationnelle du risque d'impartition est donnée. Cette définition est ensuite utilisée pour déterminer le niveau de risque associé à chacun des contrats. Les mécanismes de gestion de risque sont également identifiés. Les résultats démontrent qu'une gestion active du risque permet de réduire sensiblement les niveau d'exposition au risque, notamment dans le cas de contrats d'impartition des technologies de l'information.Outsourcing of IS, IS risk management, agency theory, transaction cost economics, case study, Impartition des systèmes informatiques, gestion du risque d'impartition, gestion du risque, théories de l'agence et des coûts de transaction, étude de cas
Poetry reading and discussion: poetry and place
No full textThis is the archive of a poetry reading and discussion given by Tomaz Salamun, considered Slovenia's greatest living poet and one of the foremost figures of the Eastern European poetical avant-garde, Tomaz Salamun is revered by many American poets for his unique surrealistic style. His most recent collection in English is The Book for My Brother (Harcourt, 2006, translated by Christopher Merrill and others). Moderator: David Rivard, Poetry Editor at the Harvard Review; author of Bewitched Playground (2000), Wise Poison (1996), and Torque (1987). This discussion originally aired on WBUR's World of Ideas. Watch the video on BUniverse at http://www.bu.edu/buniverse/view/?v=2JrIFv9H.Center for International Relations (Boston University); AGNI (literary journal); Boston University Poetry Series; American Literary Translators Association (ALTA); Zephyr Press; European Commission Delegation (Washington, DC); Boston University Humanities Foundatio
Managing the Risk of IT Outsourcing
No full textWhile it can bring several benefits, IT outsourcing entails some risks. As it is the case in other types of investments or business ventures, the risk associated to an IT outsourcing project must be evaluated and managed. This paper proposes a framework for the management of IT outsourcing risk, and assesses the usefulness of the framework using data gathered about two cases of system development outsourcing. After providing a conceptual definition of risk and of risk exposure, the paper presents the proposed risk management framework. The two cases are then described along with the evaluation of the level of risk exposure of each, and the risk management mechanisms that were included in the contracts. The results of the study suggest that by charting the various items that contribute to risk exposure, and by specifically applying the appropriate mechanisms that can target the elements with the higher levels of risk exposure, outsourcing risk can be adequately managed. L'impartition des services informatiques, même si elle peut entrainer de nombreux bénéfices, implique un risque. Comme tout type d'investissement, ce risque doit être évalué et géré. Cet article propose un cadre d'analyse pour le risque d'impartition des services informatiques, et évalue ce cadre à l'aide d'une étude de cas. Ce cas présente deux décisions d'impartition de services informatiques, dans le domaine de l'assurance. Le niveau de risque de chaque décision est évalué et les mécanismes permettant de gérer ce risque sont présentés. Les résultats montrent que, en détaillant les facteurs de risque et les événenents correspondants, il est possible de cibler les éléments les plus risqués et de réduire le risque à un niveau acceptable.Outsourcing of IS, IS risk management, agency theory, transaction cost economics, case study, Sous-traitance des systèmes informatiques, gestion du risque des systèmes informatiques, théorie de l'agance, économie des coûts de transaction, étude de cas
Really and Truly by E. Rivard
No full textRivard, Émilie. Really and Truly. Illus. Anne-Claire Delisle. Trans. Sarah Quinn. Toronto: Owlkids Books Inc., 2011. Print. Prolific Quebec author Émilie Rivard departs from her usual novel format in the picture book, Really and Truly. Really and Truly describes the loving relationship between Charlie and his grandfather, a master storyteller. Grandpa’s stories are fabulous and Charlie becomes immersed in the tales of pirates, gnomes and witches. Grandpa has an imaginative explanation for everything and Charlie is mesmerized. Every story ends with the line, “Really and truly, Charlie.” Time passes, Charlie gets older and Grandpa changes as a disease “eats up his memory and his words”. Visit after visit Grandpa becomes less responsive, leaving Charlie and his family heartbroken. During one visit, Charlie remembers a story his Grandpa used to tell and decides to tell it back to Grandpa. For the first time in a long time, he catches his Grandpa’s attention. At each visit, Charlie tells another story eventually eliciting a small smile from Grandpa. This is an endearing story about family relationships and the difficulties of dealing with dementia. Clever illustrations complement the straightforward text. Grandpa’s and Charlie’s stories are illustrated in black and white on top of the coloured illustrations of reality. This would be a good read aloud for primary-junior students, providing a vehicle for discussions about family stories, grandparents, and Alzheimer’s disease. Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Brenda Roberts Brenda Roberts is the teacher-librarian at Edenbrook Hill Public School in Brampton, Ontario and is working on her M.Ed. in teacher-librarianship from the University of Alberta. When not devouring books, she enjoys travel, quilting, music and gardening
Enterpise resource planning deplozment guide
No full textThe deployment of an Enterprise Resource Planning system (briefly ERP) is a global project, of strategic importance for the companies. It is equally a project for the reorganization of the business processes. A guide for the deployment involves all that is necessary for the counseling for the start up of an ERP system: conceptual matters, basic rules, managers' expectations, success factors, associated risks and good practices.enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), ERP deployment, success factors, basic rules, ERP deployment associated risks, best practices
Automated drill core logging using visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy: A case study from the Olympic Dam IOCG deposit, South Australia
No full textReflectance spectrometers with automated scanning capabilities can gather compositional information directly from the surface of drill core. To showcase the usefulness of this analytical technique, 300 m of drill core from the Olympic Dam iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) deposit, South Australia, were scanned using HyLogger. The reflectance spectra (400–2,500 nm) were analyzed to identify hematite and phengite, which are the most important alteration minerals at Olympic Dam. The results were plotted as a function of depth to produce a log that accurately identified ore-bearing and barren rocks. The position of the most intense absorption feature between 850 and 970 nm was found to correspond to iron concentration, and the intensity of the most intense absorption feature between 2,190 and 2,230 nm was found to correspond to aluminum concentration. In addition, phengite located near the ore-bearing zone was found to contain more aluminum than phengite located in the barren rocks, and this difference in phengite mineral chemistry was observable in the reflectance spectra between 2,190 and 2,230 nm.Michelle Tappert, Benoit Rivard, David Giles, Ralf Tappert and Alan Mauge
Governance of complex IT outsourcing partnerships
No full textDeciding whether to outsource information technology (IT) or to keep providing these services oneself is a key management responsibility. Once a decision to outsource has been made, relations with external providers have to be established and managed. IT outsourcing governance therefore encompasses those structures and processes that should ensure the delivery and utilization of IT services complying with the objectives of the participating organizations. The authors have carried out a study on governance practices in the management of complex IT outsourcing partnership relations. For this research, fourteen international case studies on European-based companies with pan-European or global operations were used. Working on the basis of the relevant socioorganizational, economic, and competition-based reference disciplines the practices found in these case studies were analyzed, and a framework was developed comprising ten governance factors. The major building blocks of this framework are the outsourcing company, the IT service suppliers, and the relations between them. The case studies used here all concern successfully managed complex IT outsourcing relations. Their yearly contract values varied from 550 million. At the end of the contract period all contracts were renewed except for two, which were discontinued because of external market reasons. The very success of these outsourcing relationships provides an opportunity to analyze the problems and challenges met in such partnerships. As it turned out, any trouble that was experienced was always caused by a lack of attention paid to the governance factors of the framework
The mineral chemistry, near-infrared, and mid-infrared reflectance spectroscopy of phengite from the Olympic Dam IOCG deposit, South Australia
No full textPhengite is the main potassic dioctahedral mica identified at the Olympic Dam iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposit, South Australia, where its mineral chemistry is quite variable. These differences can be explained by contrasting degrees of hydrothermal alteration. In the heavily-sericitized, ore-bearing rocks, the phengites display a lower-Si content, a higher-Al content, and a lower Mg-number than the phengites from the weakly-sericitized alteration halo that surrounds the deposit. Variations are also observed in the near- and mid-infrared reflectance spectra collected from phengite-bearing rocks. In the near-infrared, high-Al phengite produces a spectral absorption feature at 2.206. μm, and this feature is displaced to 2.213. μm for low-Al phengite. In the mid-infrared, high-Al phengite produces a strong reflectance peak at 9.59. μm, whereas this peak is observed at 9.57. μm in the spectra from low-Al phengite. Additional peaks were also identified at 10.98, 12.22, and 13.33. μm. These were most intense in the spectra from high-Al phengite. A drill core profile was produced using the results of the spectral analysis that shows the change in phengite mineral chemistry and phengite abundance as a function of depth. In general, near- and mid-infrared reflectance spectroscopy can be used to characterize the aluminum content of potassic dioctahedral micas like phengite, and this information can be used to infer the degree of sericitic alteration that has occurred as a result of hydrothermal fluid flow.Michelle C. Tappert, Benoit Rivard, David Giles, Ralf Tappert, Alan Mauge
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