Patterns of co-alignment in information-intensive organizations: business performance through integration strategies

Information technology (IT) has transformed business practices in the last several decades: operations, product strategies, distribution, and customer service have become increasingly dependent on IT. Moreover, IT has changed its orientation from that of pure operational utility in the 1960s and 1970s to that of a competitive weapon in the 1990s and today. These phenomena have affected the way modern organizations are managed, as well as the way IT affects the strategic activities of an organization's value-chain.In particular, aligning an organization's business and IT strategies in order to deliver higher business performance presupposes a strategic business opportunity to which information systems technology is integral. In other words, Strategic Alignment between business and IT can have a positive business impact only if we see an organization's IT components as parts of a well-integrated organizational system. If business strategy is viewed separately from IT strategy or IT strategy is viewed only as a “support” tool, then there is little likelihood that the above positive impact of strategic alignment can take place.This research suggests, develops and tests a strategic co-alignment model by examining three types of integration that impact the planning process and the overall performance of information-intensive organizations: technological integration (TI), functional integration and strategic integration (SI).The results of this research yield some useful set of guidelines for theory building for IS, as well as for the business practice aspect of IS: most interesting is the role of consistency (co-alignment) between an organization's business and strategic information systems plans to improve overall firm performance. Other recommendations include having a high degree of involvement of IS executives in corporate planning, the use of outsourcing services to promote organizational systems integration, and the importance of internal coordination mechanisms to facilitate both systems consistency and lower transaction costs. Finally, this study has employed cluster analysis and discriminant analysis to interpret the research findings.     

On using spheres of meaning to define and dignify the IS discipline

The question, “Is information systems a real discipline?” has taxed IS scholars for over 20 years, and they debate its identity at length. Many other disciplines are facing similar crises. This article suggests a new approach, which views disciplines in terms of what is meaningful to those who work within them. Making use of the philosophical notion of ‘spheres of meaning’, and one well-thought-out suite of such spheres, the core contribution of the IS discipline may be understood, giving it confidence among its neighbours, so as to maintain dialogue with them. Questions about identity are replaced by questions about dignity, destiny and responsibility, and strategic suggestions are offered.     

Factors affecting assigned information problem ordering during Web search: An exploratory study

Multitasking is the human ability to handle the demands of multiple tasks. Multitasking behavior involves the ordering of multiple tasks and switching between tasks. People often multitask when using information retrieval (IR) technologies as they seek information on more than one information problem over single or multiple search episodes. However, limited studies have examined how people order their information problems, especially during their Web search engine interaction. The aim of our exploratory study was to investigate assigned information problem ordering by forty (40) study participants engaged in Web search. Findings suggest that assigned information problem ordering was influenced by the following factors, including personal interest, problem knowledge, perceived level of information available on the Web, ease of finding information, level of importance and seeking information on information problems in order from general to specific. Personal interest and problem knowledge were the major factors during assigned information problem ordering. Implications of the findings and further research are discussed. The relationship between information problem ordering and gratification theory is an important area for further exploration.     

企业所得税税收筹划初探

针对企业所得税对企业资金流的影响,通过对国家税法、法律、法规等相关政策的研究,给出了企业进行所得税税收筹划的原则、思想和实施条件。指出企业所得税税收筹划始终贯穿了筹资、投资、经营和财务成果分配等各个阶段,并讨论了具体应用措施。     

广西右江河谷村庄规划若干问题与对策研究——以田阳县城厢屯、凤凰屯等村庄为例

广西右江河谷地区农耕条件优越、人口密集,其村庄特征鲜明,并受到城镇化的影响。文章以广西右江河谷的城厢、凤凰等村庄为典型案例,就其村庄规划的典型问题进行剖析,并对其在村庄规划中的对策措施等提出反思和对策。     

复杂地貌城市新区竖向规划与景观规划的结合浅析

城市用地竖向规划为城市各项用地的控制高程规划.城市用地控制高程如不综合考虑、统筹安排,势必造成各项用地在平面与空间布局上的相互冲突,用地与建筑、景观、道路交通、地面排水、工程管线敷设以及建设的近期与远期、局部与整体等的矛盾;只有通过用地的竖向规划才能避免和处理这些总是达到工程合理、造价经济、景观美好的效果.因此,城市用地竖向规划是城市规划的一个重要组成部分     

OpenURL框架结构分析

OpenURL作为一种开放式链接框架结构,与传统信息链接框架相比,增加了许多新的功能,成为信息资源整合的重要工具,受到图书情报界的密切关注,也将被美国全国信息标准组织(NISO)所接收。本文在分析OpenURL框架结构和运行机制的基础上,讨论其在信息资源整合中的使用。     

An empirical investigation of factors influencing the adoption of data mining tools

Previous studies explored the adoption of various information technologies. However, there is little empirical research on factors influencing the adoption of data mining tools (DMTs), particularly at an individual level. This study investigates how users perceive and adopt DMTs to broaden practical knowledge for the business intelligence community. First, this study develops a theoretical model based on the Technology Acceptance Model 3, and then examines its perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and its ability to explain users’ intentions to use DMTs. The model's determinants include 4 categories: the task-oriented dimension (job relevance, output quality, result demonstrability, response time, and format), control beliefs (computer self-efficacy and perceptions of external control), emotion (computer anxiety), and intrinsic motivation (computer playfulness). This study also surveys the moderating effect of experience and output quality on the determinants of DMT adoption and use. An empirical study involving 206 DMT users was conducted to evaluate the model using structural equation modeling. Results demonstrate that the proposed model explains 58% of the variance. The findings of this study have interesting implications with respect to DMT adoption, both for researchers and practitioners.     

The dynamics of technological change in UK retail banking services: An evolutionary perspective

The purpose of this paper is to elaborate an evolutionary perspective on the process of structural change that has characterized the banking industry in the United Kingdom (UK). For this purpose, the evolution of retail financial services is contrasted against the backdrop of the implementation and development of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The paper delves into the sources and the effects of technological change in banking over a long-term perspective (1840s-1990s) to point out the significance of the opportunities and the constraints that have shaped the growth and development of this industry. This is interpreted as a three-stage evolutionary process driven by intertemporal coordination across several complementary domains, including activities of production, business organization, consumption and the underlying regulatory setting. It is concluded that the evolution of UK retail banking displays the characteristics of a distributed process of innovation in which developers of technologies, service suppliers and customers contribute to the process of structural change of the industry.     

Document management systems from current capabilities towards intelligent information retrieval: an overview

Documents circulating in paper form are increasingly being substituted by its electronic equivalent in the modern office today so that any stored document can be retrieved whenever needed later on. The office worker is already burdened with information overload, so effective and efficient retrieval facilities become an important factor affecting worker productivity. This paper first reviews the features of current document management systems with varying facilities to manage, store and retrieve either reference to documents or whole documents. Information retrieval databases, groupware products and workflow management systems are presented as developments to handle different needs, together with the underlying concepts of knowledge management. The two problems of worker finiteness and worker ignorance remain outstanding, as they are only partially addressed by the above-mentioned systems. The solution lies in a shift away from pull technology where the user has to actively initiate the request for information towards push technology, where available information is automatically delivered without user intervention. Intelligent information retrieval agents are presented as a solution together with a marketing scenario of how they can be introduced.     

员工职业规划与企业发展

工作是自己的选择甚至是抉择,这个选择或抉择一定要与自己的职业生涯规划相匹配.不明晰自己的职业生涯就没法判断公司的好坏.     

Information management of medical errors in Greece: The MERIS proposal

There is a substantial amount of public concern about patient safety, as, according to estimates from major studies, hundreds of thousands die in hospitals each year all over the developed world as a result of medical errors that could have been prevented. Unprecedented research commissioned by the EU has found that almost one out of every four families has experienced a serious medical error. Greek citizens concerning about serious medical errors in the hospital environment, were at the top of the list. Greek Ombudsman's report on medical errors has raised the debate among health policy makers as to the appropriate response to the problem. Proposals range from the implementation of nationwide mandatory reporting with public release of performance data, to voluntary reporting and quality-assurance efforts that protect the confidentiality of error-related data. Any successful safety program will first require a national effort to make significant investments in information systems, along with providing an environment and education that enables to contribute to an active quality improvement process. In this paper we propose the development and implementation of Medical Error Reporting Information System (MERIS), in order to identify, collect, analyse and report medical errors and patient adverse events, as a tool for enhancing patient safety and health care quality. We also describe the necessary organisational structure and the infrastructure environment of the system and the barriers to its successful implementation.     

浅谈高校大学生职业生涯规划教育中存在的问题及其对策

每个人都有自身的职业生涯,在经济快速发展的当代,大学生职业生涯规划显得尤为重要,它对大学生今后步入社会起到积极的作用。本文通过论述高校大学职业生涯规划教育的现状以及存在的问题,提出相关的解决对策,为大学生今后步入社会提供一定的指导依据。     

An Approach to Value-Based Modeling of Information Flows

This article presents a new approach to modeling information flows within today's information systems environments characterized by electronic commerce. We treat information as a resource whose value is fundamentally multidimensional in nature. In this article we consider the economic and psychological dimensions of the value of information. It is argued that it is meaningless to model the value of information in isolation away from the context and the specific parties between which this information is exchanged. We therefore focus exclusively on modeling information flows rather than information itself. To achieve this, we propose a formal framework for describing transactions involving information flows. The framework consists of a generalized model for representing information transactions and for defining a set of fundamental properties of multiparty transactions. These properties are fairness, constructiveness, and monopoly. Where applicable, they are defined for individuals, transactions, and a system of transactions. The proposed model reveals the nature of individual transactions and markets, and consequently has important implications for simulation of market scenarios and to help arrive at effective policies for pricing and market regulations.     

科博会:成就、问题与对策

科博会在国际国内社会和高新技术业内产生了很好的影响,但是在发展过程中也存在着一些问题,针对这些问题,给出相应的解决对策及更好发展科博会、打造精品展会的建议,以期促进科博会更好的发展和前行。通过深入分析,存在着综合性和专业性、行政性和市场性等矛盾,能够对其有一个明确的分辨和定位。