Funding information systems

Funding is an on-going, not just a one-time start-up, challenge. If we want to add "bells and whistles" to reap a full return on our hefty investments in basic computing and telecommunication structures, we need to think about funding as an integral, on-going part of our information systems.     

Constructing HR information systems

Accounts of human resource information systems (HRISs) range from predominantly technical accounts, which assume that the data contained and the way it is organised are straightforward reflections of reality, to accounts which see such systems as a way of exercising disciplinary power through the creation of a new view of the organisation. These different conceptions are explored through an investigation of three organisations which were developing information systems relating to workforce skills and workplace requirements. The article focuses on different conceptualisations of skill and their significance for approaches to HR strategy. It is also concerned with the way in which managers develop and refine such information systems, and the analogy of mapping is examined as a way of understanding this process.     

Issues in management information systems planning

lt has been advocated that management information Systems (MIS) planning is an important activity which an organization must perform in order to achieve organizational goals. In this paper, based on a field study of 131 large organizations, several issues related to MIS planning have been examined. These issues include: the impact of current MIS services on the overall competitive position of an organization; the impact of future MIS capabilities on the long-term competitive viability of the organization; the factors which prompted organizations to develop an MIS plan; the formal business planning processes used for the MIS function; the areas covered in the MIS plan; the main driving force in undertaking the development of a long-term MIS plan; and, the usefulness of the MIS plan in directing the organizational MIS activites.It has been shown that organizations vary significantly on each of these major MIS planning issues.     

会计信息系统发展趋势分析

会计具有社会性与技术性,因此社会、经济、信息技术都对会计的发展产生影响。会计的社会性决定了会计信息系统发展的方向,是向各利益相关者提供决策有用的信息。会计的技术性决定了会计信息系统发展的历程与发展趋势。本文提出,事项驱动的信息系统体系结构、物理与逻辑分离的思路,这两个管理信息系统的发展趋势,并不是会计信息系统的特有趋势。     

Management information systems in health systems agencies: some considerations.

Relevant considerations for the application of Management Information Systems theory (MIS) to public agencies are identified and discussed in this paper. The importance of the agency's environment, both external and internal, reporting structure and personnel makeup is examined. A specific application of these considerations in an MIS developed for the Health Systems Agency of Western New York is presented. Finally, the paper considers the importance of system implementation as well as system design.     

Conditions for successful human resource information systems

Despite the widespread use of computer-based human resource information systems (HRIS), previous research has not identified the conditions that support successful sytems. This article presents the results of a survey of users who interact directly with a computer-based HRIS to do their work. The relationships between individual/task, organizational, and system conditions, plus two measures of systems success are examined. The results indicate that system conditions were the most important antecedents of success. The availability of internal support for users also represented a critical condition. Overall, the findings of this study provide support for a model of HRIS success and present a basis for planning, designing, and implementing successful systems. Finally, this study brings with it new questions for HRIS research. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Earnings forecasts in enterprise information systems environment

With the globalisation and integration of world financial markets, the application of enterprise information systems has become more and more popular in the financial service sector. This paper examines the analyst's decision regarding allocation of effort to the precision and timeliness of earnings forecasts with financial decision support systems. Once an analyst decides to follow a firm, the analyst must choose the level of effort to devote to generating outputs, such as earnings forecasts. This paper provides insights into this by examining three issues concerning the forecasts of the individual analyst. First, forecast accuracy and frequency are modelled simultaneously. Then, whether these two effort allocation choices are complements or substitutes is tested. Finally, how competition affects these two characteristics is examined. The accuracy and frequency are examined with simultaneous equations. Results from this analysis suggest that analysts allocate effort among these two forecast criteria in a complementary way. Finally, empirical results reveal a positive association between competition and forecast frequency by the individual analyst. However, a significant association between competition and the individual analyst's forecast accuracy is not found.     

Concept-based query language approach to enterprise information systems

In enterprise information systems (EISs) it is necessary to model, integrate and compute very diverse data. In advanced EISs the stored data often are based both on structured (e.g. relational) and semi-structured (e.g. XML) data models. In addition, the ad hoc information needs of end-users may require the manipulation of data-oriented (structural), behavioural and deductive aspects of data. Contemporary languages capable of treating this kind of diversity suit only persons with good programming skills. In this paper we present a concept-oriented query language approach to manipulate this diversity so that the programming skill requirements are considerably reduced. In our query language, the features which need technical knowledge are hidden in application-specific concepts and structures. Therefore, users need not be aware of the underlying technology. Application-specific concepts and structures are represented by the modelling primitives of the extended RDOOM (relational deductive object-oriented modelling) which contains primitives for all crucial real world relationships (is-a relationship, part-of relationship, association), XML documents and views. Our query language also supports intensional and extensional–intensional queries, in addition to conventional extensional queries. In its query formulation, the end-user combines available application-specific concepts and structures through shared variables.     

Clustering-based urbanisation to improve enterprise information systems agility

Enterprises are daily facing pressures to demonstrate their ability to adapt quickly to the unpredictable changes of their dynamic in terms of technology, social, legislative, competitiveness and globalisation. Thus, to ensure its place in this hard context, enterprise must always be agile and must ensure its sustainability by a continuous improvement of its information system (IS). Therefore, the agility of enterprise information systems (EISs) can be considered today as a primary objective of any enterprise. One way of achieving this objective is by the urbanisation of the EIS in the context of continuous improvement to make it a real asset servicing enterprise strategy. This paper investigates the benefits of EISs urbanisation based on clustering techniques as a driver for agility production and/or improvement to help managers and IT management departments to improve continuously the performance of the enterprise and make appropriate decisions in the scope of the enterprise objectives and strategy. This approach is applied to the urbanisation of a tour operator EIS.     

Embodying information systems: the contribution of phenomenology

This paper presents a case for embodying information systems. That is, for recognizing the fundamental importance of the body in human cognition and social action, and exploring the consequences for information systems and artificial intelligence. Current work within philosophy, biology, cognitive science, and social theory demonstrates that the Cartesian dualism of mind and body is no longer tenable, and points to the embodied and enactive nature of thought and language. Three different approaches to cognition are identified and their underlying philosophies are exemplified by Husserl, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty respectively. Sections of the paper cover: a philosophical and biological framework for embodied cognition; the main arguments in favor of the approach; and the implications for information systems and artificial intelligence.     

建造企业功能性战略信息平台

信息平台低下成信息环境的不良是造成企业长期低起点经营的重要原因之一,新世纪企业新的活力和竞争力可来源于高效的战略信息平台.建造全面性、开放性和具有互动性的战略信息平台,可使企业在全新的基础上实现信息共享,并以此来实现企业高起点的战略性经营.而用价值工程的原理和方法指导每一阶段企业信息环境的建设,是摆脱高额投入、防止过多的功能过剩、有效地建造企业战略信息平台的重要途径.     

Using integrated information systems in supply chain management

The aim of this paper is to empirically test not only the direct effects of information and communication technology (ICT) capabilities and integrated information systems (IS) on firm performance, but also the moderating role of IS integration along the supply chain in the relationship between ICT external and capabilities and business performance. Data collected from 102 large Iberian firms from Spain and Portugal are used to test the research model. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis is employed to test the direct effects and the moderating relationships proposed. Results show that external and internal ICT capabilities are important drivers of firm performance, while merely having integrated IS do not lead to better firm performance. In addition, a moderating effect of IS integration in the relationship between ICT capabilities and business performance is found, although this integration only contributes to firm performance when it is directed to connect with suppliers or customers rather than when integrating the whole supply chain.     

Habermas and information systems research: New directions

Habermas' critical social theory has proven to be an important and useful lens in information systems research, especially in understanding the communicative potential of information systems and in conceiving alternative approaches to information systems development. As communication and engagement have become increasingly important in the context of today's information systems, his work has perhaps even greater applicability. However, concerns that it is too utopian to apply in organizational settings have led to skepticism regarding Habermas' work. Participation by all, the “ideal speech situation” and the consensus ideal are each Habermasian requirements that have sparked this criticism.However, Habermas' work has continued to grow and evolve since the Theory of Communicative Action, the basis of much IS research drawing on his work. His contributions in discourse ethics (1990, 1993) and deliberative democracy (1998) have offered us new and important theory, and have brought to light Habermas' own clarification and evolution of his original ideas.The intent of this paper is to reopen a communicative dialog about Habermas' work. After summarizing his critical social theory, we turn to addressing our two main objectives: first, to demonstrate that evolutions in Habermasian thought have renewed its empirical possibilities and, second, to show that this new understanding constructively informs future IS research. As an illustration, we sketch out the conditions for a Habermasian-inspired requirements process and show their application to a well-studied IS development model, ETHICS (Mumford, 1983). We conclude by suggesting that Habermas' theoretical ideas can no longer be dismissed as naive, but as a constant guide to critical action — as a reference point for opening up new possibilities for communicative action in IS research and activity.     

Material flow,material information,and the analytics of integrative enterprise information systems

Enterprise information systems (EIS) process highly abstracted information. They, nevertheless, are concerned with material systems. Information science has become increasingly analytic. This article draws attention back to the deeply embedded motive forces of ‘exchange’ and ‘money-information’ in the empiric systems that attend its analytics. The article further points to a danger that excessive abstraction can disconnect decision information from that in the processes of concern to EIS.     

基于GIS的交通信息服务系统研究

交通信息服务系统的建立,有利于实现整个交通系统的动态优化运行。文章从系统实现的角度分析和确定了系统的功能和结构,探讨了系统实现的关键技术及其解决方案,并研究了系统的网络拓扑结构。文章的研究旨在为先进交通信息系统(ATIS)理论体系的建立打下基础,对关键技术的研究将为ATIS平台建设提供依据。