Impact of IT Service Management Frameworks on the IT Organization

Over 90 percent of companies are estimated to use IT Service Management (ITSM) frameworks, yet there is little research on their benefits to the Information Technology (IT) department and the business units. An international survey of 491 firms was conducted to assess the benefits of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), the de-facto ITSM framework, specifically on how these benefits evolve as companies increase their adoption of the ITIL model. Also studied are the perception of challenges of the implementation and the number of ITIL processes implemented in relation to the progress of the adoption of ITIL. Results indicate that as the maturity of implementation increases, the perception of challenges decreases. Findings also show that as the maturity of implementation increases, the number of realized benefits increases, as well as the number of implemented ITIL processes. Implications for practitioners and researchers are also discussed.     

User,Use & Utility Research

Business and Information Systems Engineering (BISE) is at a turning point. Planning, designing, developing and operating IT used to be a management task of a few elites in public ad-ministrations and corporations. But the continuous digitization of nearly all areas of life changes the IT landscape fundamentally. Success in this new era requires putting the human perspective – the digital user – at the very heart of the new digitized service-led economy. BISE faces not just a temporary trend but a complex socio-technical phenomenon with far-reaching implications. The challenges are manifold and have major consequences for all stakeholders, both in information systems and management research as well as in practice. Corporate processes have to be re-designed from the ground up, starting with the user’s perspective, thus putting usage experience and utility of the individual center stage. The digital service economy leads to highly personalized application systems while organizational functions are being fragmented. Entirely new ways of interacting with information systems, in particular beyond desktop IT, are being invented and established. These fundamental challenges require novel approaches with regards to innovation and development methods as well as adequate concepts for enterprise or service system architectures. Gigantic amounts of data are being generated at an accelerating rate by an increasing number of devices – data that need to be managed. In order to tackle these extraordinary challenges we introduce ‘user, use & utility’ as a new field of BISE that focuses primarily on the digital user, his or her usage behavior and the utility associated with system usage in the digitized service-led economy. The research objectives encompass the development of theories, methods and tools for systematic requirement elicitation, systems design, and business development for successful Business and Information Systems Engineering in a digitized economy – information systems that digital users enjoy using. This challenge calls for leveraging insights from various scientific disciplines such as Design, Engineering, Computer Science, Psychology and Sociology. BISE can provide an integrated perspective, thereby assuming a pivotal role within the digitized service led economy.     

The implications of the FTC's clear and conspicuous standards for the communication of credit card information to young consumers

College students are an important target market for credit card companies and are substantial users of this form of credit, even though they may not have the appropriate knowledge to make informed decisions regarding credit cards. Specific to financial services marketing, the focus of this study is to ascertain whether college-age students recall and understand disclosed information in credit card commercials. This study analyzes the effectiveness of three disclosure standards advocated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which are intended to ensure that consumers (such as college students) are appropriately informed. Specifically, this study focuses on: (1) modality, (2) audience consideration and (3) distraction level present during the disclosure presentation. Tests of the impact of these standards on consumer recall and comprehension of disclosed information have been mixed and the extant research has failed to test all of the standards in combination. An important contribution that this research makes is the reconciliation of differences found in previous research, while revealing the effects that implementing multiple FTC standards has on college students’ recall and comprehension, perceptions of recall and comprehension, and attitudes and behavioral intentions.     

Prices of raw materials continue to rise

Following the abatement of the boom market during the early months of 1983, the coming months will see an “adjustment” of world market prices for industrial raw materials to “fundamental” market conditions. Price fluctuations are likely during this period. A gradual increase in demand for raw materials and a moderate rise in raw materials prices can be expected during the further course of 1983 and in 1984.     

Trend changes on raw materials markets

1987 saw a change in trends on many international raw materials markets. Prices, which had been under pressure for several years, began to rise again. This trend cannot be expected to continue everywhere in 1988, however.     

Raw materials price rise easing off

Due to the slow-down in the worldwide increase in business activity, the growth of demand for raw materials is expected to decelerate. Production, on the other hand, will continue to increase rapidly.     

Rising commodity prices

In the wake of faster economic growth and thus higher demand for commodities in the Western world, the upward trend of the prices for industrial raw materials continued during 1972, and indeed gathered speed, on world markets. The following contribution is an analysis of the development in the past year and attempts a preview for 1973.     

Raw materials prices under pressure

Since April 1984 there has been a general fall in world market prices for industrial raw materials following upon increases which, in some cases, had been quite considerable. What are the reasons for this development? What are the prospects for 1985?     

The implications of the FTC's clear and conspicuous standards for the communication of credit card information to young consumers

College students are an important target market for credit card companies and are substantial users of this form of credit, even though they may not have the appropriate knowledge to make informed decisions regarding credit cards. Specific to financial services marketing, the focus of this study is to ascertain whether college-age students recall and understand disclosed information in credit card commercials. This study analyzes the effectiveness of three disclosure standards advocated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which are intended to ensure that consumers (such as college students) are appropriately informed. Specifically, this study focuses on: (1) modality, (2) audience consideration and (3) distraction level present during the disclosure presentation. Tests of the impact of these standards on consumer recall and comprehension of disclosed information have been mixed and the extant research has failed to test all of the standards in combination. An important contribution that this research makes is the reconciliation of differences found in previous research, while revealing the effects that implementing multiple FTC standards has on college students’ recall and comprehension, perceptions of recall and comprehension, and attitudes and behavioral intentions.