In the last fifteen years, academic research on information systems (IS) outsourcing has evolved rapidly. Indeed the field of outsourcing research has grown so fast that there has been scant opportunity for the research community to take a collective breath, and complete a global assessment of research activities to date. This paper seeks to address this need by exploring and synthesizing the academic literature on IS outsourcing. It offers a roadmap of the IS outsourcing literature, highlighting what has been done so far, how the work fits together under a common umbrella, and what the future directions might be.In order to adequately address the immense diversity of research on IS outsourcing and outsourcing in general, we develop a conceptual framework that helps us to categorize the literature. In particular, we look at the research objectives, methods used and theoretical foundations of the papers. In identifying the major research objectives, we view outsourcing as an organizational decision process and adapt Simon's stage model of decision making. This allows us to identify five major sourcing issues, from which at least one is covered by each academic article. These are the questions of why to outsource, what to outsource, which decision process to take, how to implement the sourcing decision, and what is the outcome of the sourcing decision. In analyzing the literature, we identify and structure the main explanatory factors and theoretical relationships within each of these sourcing stages. Based on our discussion of the research objectives, theoretical foundations and research approaches taken in the literature, we show how the various research streams hang together and we come up with a number of implications for research. Moreover, we identify a number of emerging sourcing issues. We believe that research on these "new" phenomena such as offshore outsourcing, application service providing and business process outsourcing would benefit from 'standing on the shoulders' of what has already been accomplished in the field of IS outsourcing.

Information systems outsourcing: a survey and analysis of the literature

По мере того как «новый государственный менеджмент» (new public management) входит в свой средний возраст, внимание ученых смещается от простого описания происходящего и априорного теоретизирования к анализу сюрпризов и парадоксов, связанных с недавними и текущими реформами государственной службы. Некоторые из стандартных аналитических концепций для изучения таких парадоксов, рассматриваемых в данной статье, находятся в русле мертонианской традиции исследования непреднамеренных результатов регулирования жизни общества, культурных теорий сюрпризов и анализа прерывности и нелинейности в функционировании сложных систем, хотя до настоящего времени литература в области нового государственного менеджмента использовала первую концепцию более интенсивно, чем две остальные. На основании изучения реформ государственного управления, которые могли внести свой вклад в появление парадоксальных эффектов, мы делаем вывод о том, что анализ таких парадоксов может помочь развитию административной науки, а также пониманию реформ общественного сектора.

http://bcct.unam.mx/adriana/bibliografia%20parte%201/BCCT%20893.pdf

The Middle Aging of New Public Management: Into the Age of Paradox?

Pirh2, a p53-Induced Ubiquitin-Protein Ligase, Promotes p53 Degradation

Our purpose is to bring together perspectives concerning the processing and use of statistical graphs to identify critical factors that appear to influence graph comprehension and to suggest instructional implications. After providing a synthesis of information about the nature and structure of graphs, we define graph comprehension. We consider 4 critical factors that appear to affect graph comprehension: the purposes for using graphs, task characteristics, discipline characteristics, and reader characteristics. A construct called graph sense is defined. A sequence for ordering the introduction of graphs is proposed. We conclude with a discussion of issues involved in making sense of quantitative information using graphs and ways instruction may be modified to promote such sense making.

Making sense of graphs: Critical factors influencing comprehension and instructional implications.

Nature provides a wide range of materials with different functions and which may serve as a source of bio-inspiration for the materials scientist. The article takes the point of view that a successful translation of these ideas into the technical world requires more than the observation of nature. A thorough analysis of structure-function relations in natural tissues must precede the engineering of new bio-inspired materials. There are, indeed, many opportunities for lessons from the biological world: on growth and functional adaptation, about hierarchical structuring, on damage repair and self-healing. Biomimetic materials research is becoming a rapidly growing and enormously promising field. Serendipitous discovery from the observation of nature will be gradually replaced by a systematic approach involving the study of natural tissues in materials laboratories, the application of engineering principles to the further development of bio-inspired ideas and the generation of specific databases.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsif.2007.0218

Biomimetic materials research: what can we really learn from nature's structural materials?

On the Shoulders of Giants

This groundbreaking work of astronomy proposed a heliocentric universe in which planets orbited the sun - daring the challenge the Ptolemaic ideal of the earth as the centre of the universe.

Stephen W. Hawking

Papers

On the Shoulders of Giants

On the revolutions of heavenly spheres : on the shoulders of giants