1,720,969 research outputs found
Ontology and Ontologies in Information Systems Analysis and Design: A Critique
Full text linkOntology and the concept of ontologies have attracted considerable attention in the context of research on information systems analysis and design. Being rooted in philosophy, both ontology and the concept of ontologies bear their own history of philosophical debates which have quite often been ignored when applied in the field of information systems. In this contribution it is claimed that a more comprehensive discussion of well-known philosophical issues of ontology and ontologies will help us not only to understand the scope of their applicability in the context of information systems analysis and design. It will also provide us with insights about limitations as well as with directions for issues in need of further research. The argument is critical yet affirmative. It aims at the expansion of the scope of current discourses and focuses especially on socio-philosophical aspects that need to be addressed in order to leverage the full potential of using ontology and ontologies for the provision of a theoretical foundation for information systems analysis and design.
Enterprise system implementation and the linguistic shaping of organizational knowledge
Full text linkThis contribution reports on the development of a theoretical framework as a foundation for the understanding of the influence of enterprise system implementation on organizational knowledge and learning. Our conceptualization of enterprise systems as symbolic systems gives rise to the study of enterprise system implementation in terms of semiotic and linguistic categories. While drawing on the concept of “model power, ” on the notion of “programming as theory development, ” and on the weak interpretation of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, we are able to show how enterprise system implementations influence organizational knowledge and organizational learning via linguistic processes
On the Applicability of the Bunge-Wand-Weber Ontology to Enterprise Systems Requirements.
No full textContemplating Open Source Enterprise Systems
No full textUntil recently, integration of enterprise systems has been supported largely by monolithic architectures. From a technical perspective, this approach has been challenged by the suggestion of component-based enterprise systems. Lately
Enhancing the Expressiveness of the Bunge-Wand-Weber Ontology
Full text linkIn practical terms, conceptual modeling is at the core of systems analysis and design. The plurality of modeling methods available has however been regarded as detrimental, and as a strong indication that a common view or theoretical grounding of modeling is wanting. This theoretical foundation must universally address all potential matters to be represented in a model, which consequently suggested ontology as the point of departure for theory development. The Bunge--Wand--Weber (BWW) ontology has become a widely accepted modeling theory. Its application has simultaneously led to the recognition that, although suitable as a meta-model, the BWW ontology needs to be enhanced regarding its expressiveness in empirical domains. In this paper, a first step in this direction has been made by revisiting BUNGE's ontology, and by proposing the integration of a "hierarchy of systems"in the BWW ontology for accommodating domain specific conceptualizations
On the Foundation of the Ontological Foundation of Conceptual Modeling Grammars: The Construction of the Bunge–Wand–Weber Ontology
No full textAbstract. In response to constant criticism that methods for conceptual modeling in information systems lack theoretical foundations, several approaches have been proposed. Among these, ontological approaches have recently received considerable attention. Though MCCARTHY and HAYES already in 1969 had called for ‘‘metaphysically adequate modeling,’ ’ it was not before 1986 that WAND and WEBER commenced working out an ontological foundation of conceptual modeling, drawing on an ontology by BUNGE; thus later named Bunge--Wand--Weber (BWW) ontology. Nonetheless, its application triggered questions regarding its grounding, which remain open yet. Addressing some of these, a first review of the BWW ontology is being offered----putting it in the context of ontological foundations of conceptual modeling----as a bid for increased rigor in theory development. The emergence of conceptual modeling, BUNGE’s ontology, and its adaptation by WAND and WEBER are summarized, concluding with questions regarding the overall project of ontological foundations of conceptual modeling.
Methodological Aspects of Organizational Modeling in Business Computing
No full textDie Omnipräsenz von Informationssystemen in modernen Organisationen hat eine Reziprozität zwischen Organisations- und Softwareentwicklung zur Folge. Die Organisationsmodellierung, eine Aktivität, die zwischen den Sphären Organisationsentwicklung und Softwareentwicklung vermittelt, erlangt vor diesem Hintergrund eine erhebliche Bedeutung. Sowohl die Komplexität von Modellierungsprojekten als auch deren Bedeutung für die Organisations- und Softwareentwicklung erfordern eine solide methodologische Fundierung der Organisationsmodellierung. Eine solche wurde mittels einer kritischen Analyse von erkenntnistheoretischen Paradigmen, die in der Wirtschaftsinformatik, der Informationssystemforschung und der Organisationstheorie verbreitet sind, verfolgt. Ausgehend von dieser Analyse wurden für die Organisations- und Softwareentwicklung wesentliche Konzepte wie Modell, System, Information und Organisation einer kritischen Würdigung unterzogen, mit dem Ziel, die dem jeweiligen Begriffsverständnis zugrunde liegenden erkenntnistheoretischen Präsuppositionen aufzudecken. Erkenntnisse, gewonnen aus der kontemporären Erkenntnistheorie, machten es erforderlich, die Suche nach einem ultimativen Fundament der Erkenntnis aufzugeben. Gleichzeitig wurde das instrumentelle Erkenntnisinteresse fragwürdig. In Übereinstimmung mit diesen Einsichten sowie mit dem Ziel, die Defizite herkömmlicher Konzeptualisierungen zu überwinden, basiert die vorliegende Untersuchung auf dem erkenntnistheoretischen Paradigma des soziopragmatischen Konstruktivismus. Der so bestimmte methodologische Rahmen der vorliegenden Untersuchung ist durch eine ideographische methodologische und eine relativistische ontologische Position gekennzeichnet. Die verstehensorientierte Betrachtung zentraler Konzepte der Organisations- und Informationssystementwicklung deckte deren reduktionistische instrumentalistische Präsuppositionen auf. Vor dem Hintergrund des soziopragmatischen Konstruktivismus zeigte sich, dass die traditionellen Begriffsverständnisse nicht nur fragwürdig, sondern auch ethisch bedenklich sind. Das entwickelte soziopragmatisch-konstruktivistische Verständnis eröffnet einen pluralistischen Horizont für die Wissenschaftspraxis der Wirtschaftsinformatik. Des Weiteren zeigt es auf, dass Modellierer sich der ethischen Implikationen ihrer Tätigkeit bewusst sein müssen, ist doch der Prozess der Modellierung von Auswahlen, (Wert-)Urteilen und Bedeutungszuweisungen gekennzeichnet. Der soziopragmatische Konstruktivismus schließt sich nicht vom Prozess der kritischen Reflexion aus, sondern ist selbst kontinuierlich Gegenstand einer Präsuppositionsanalyse. Die Re-Konzeptualisierung von Modell, System, Information und Organisation vor dem Hintergrund des soziopragmatischen Konstruktivismus bringt das emanzipatorische Moment dieses Ansatzes zum Ausdruck.With the pervasiveness of information systems in modern organizations the phenomenon of reciprocity between organizational development and software development has emerged. The domain of business information systems, concerned with mediation at the interface between business requirements and software-technological feasibility, is the academic institutionalization of this correlation. Concurrently, the instrument and activity that is brought to bear in this process of mediation organizational modeling has expanded dramatically in terms of scope and detail. The ensuing complexity of modeling projects, their overall significance for organizational and software development, and the concomitant risks of innovatory ventures demand a sound methodological foundation for the theory and practice of modeling. This foundation has been sought by a critical analysis of cognitive theoretical paradigms that are currency in information systems and organizational theory. Starting from this critical analysis, the core concepts of organizational and information systems development, such as model, system, information, and organization have been subjected to an evaluative study with the objective of explicating their understanding with reference to the established cognitive-theoretical foundation. The insights of contemporary cognitive theory have necessitated the abandonment of the aim of an ultimate and definite foundation, while simultaneously the instrumental interest of knowledge production has become questionable. In accordance with these findings and with the intent of overcoming the limitations and deficits of prior conceptualizations, this investigation has been based on the working hypothesis of socio-pragmatic constructivism. This has determined its methodical framework, which is characterized as the confluence of a relativist ontological with an idiographic methodological position. The understanding-oriented reconsideration of techno-organizational core concepts has demonstrated their instrumentalist and pragmatist perspective that is not only reductionist, but excludes any alternative consideration. Within the socio-pragmatic perspective, traditional concepts of organizational modeling appear to be not only theoretically dubious, but also ethically perilous. Alternatively, socio-pragmatist constructivism, based on its conception of research and scholarship, opens the horizon towards a pluralist avenue for the academic practice of business information systems. Moreover, it urges to be aware of the ethical responsibility of anyone concerned with modeling, by stressing that its processes are ultimately those of selection and judgment and of constituting new meaning. Ultimately, socio-pragmatic constructivism, by appropriating the hermeneutic doctrine of questioning the questions themselves, does not exclude itself from being scrutinized, but extends the quest for analyzing presuppositions onto its own project. The re-conceptualization of model, system, information and organization in socio-pragmatic constructivist terms evidences the emancipatory claim of this approach
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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