Showing papers on "Enterprise systems engineering published in 2004"

Enterprise Service Bus

Abstract: Large IT organizations increasingly face the challenge of integrating various web services, applications, and other technologies into a single network. The solution to finding a meaningful large-scale architecture that is capable of spanning a global enterprise appears to have been met in ESB, or Enterprise Service Bus. Rather than conform to the hub-and-spoke architecture of traditional enterprise application integration products, ESB provides a highly distributed approach to integration, with unique capabilities that allow individual departments or business units to build out their integration projects in incremental, digestible chunks, maintaining their own local control and autonomy, while still being able to connect together each integration project into a larger, more global integration fabric, or grid. Enterprise Service Bus offers a thorough introduction and overview for systems architects, system integrators, technical project leads, and CTO/CIO level managers who need to understand, assess, and evaluate this new approach. Written by Dave Chappell, one of the best known and authoritative voices in the field of enterprise middleware and standards-based integration, the book drills down into the technical details of the major components of ESB, showing how it can utilize an event-driven SOA to bring a variety of enterprise applications and services built on J2EE, .NET, C/C++, and other legacy environments into the reach of the everyday IT professional. With Enterprise Service Bus, readers become well versed in the problems faced by IT organizations today, gaining an understanding of how current technology deficiencies impact business issues. Through the study of real-world use cases and integration patterns drawn from several industries using ESB--including Telcos, financial services, retail, B2B exchanges, energy, manufacturing, and more--the book clearly and coherently outlines the benefits of moving toward this integration strategy. The book also compares ESB to other integration architectures, contrasting their inherent strengths and limitations. If you are charged with understanding, assessing, or implementing an integration architecture, Enterprise Service Bus will provide the straightforward information you need to draw your conclusions about this important disruptive technology.

Enterprise systems and ongoing process change

Abstract: Enterprise systems packages have long been associated with process change. However, it was assumed that most organizations would simultaneously design and implement process change while implementing the systems. A survey of 163 organizations and detailed interviews with 28 more suggests that enterprise systems were still being implemented even among early adopters of the technology, and that process change was being undertaken on an ongoing basis. After the prerequisites of time, critical mass of functionality, and significant expenditures were taken care of, the factors most associated with achieving value from enterprise systems were integration, process optimization, and use of enterprise‐systems data in decision making.

Semantic system for integrating software components

Abstract: A method and a scripting paradigm for automatically integrating disparate information systems (eg, web services and databases) within a given enterprise into a service-oriented architecture A script writer generates a script using a scripting paradigm, and the resulting script automatically derives new data models, new ontological structures, new mappings, and a new web service that integrates disparate information systems In addition to integrating disparate information systems, the scripts may be harvested to automate the metadata discovery and retrieval process The scripting paradigm builds upon existing open-source scripting languages and is compatible with existing internet browsers, thus encouraging mass participation in the integration process

Enterprise systems and the supply chain

Abstract: Early enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems or, more simply, enterprise systems (ES), were not primarily focused on the supply chain Their initial focus was to execute and integrate such internally‐oriented applications that support finance, accounting, manufacturing, order entry, and human resources Having got their internal operations somewhat integrated, many organizations have moved on to address the supply chain with their ES The Internet has also brought about a revolution in supply chain thinking Progress toward complete inter‐enterprise integration is measured in years and even decades In this article, we discuss both the visions firms have for using enterprise systems for supply chain management, and the actual reality of current implementation We conclude with projections of how enterprise systems will be used for supply chains in the future

Enterprise Information Systems as Objects and Carriers of Institutional Forces: The New Iron Cage? ∗

Abstract: This paper draws upon the institutional theory lens to examine enterprise information systems We propose that these information systems engender a duality On one hand, these systems are subject to institutional forces and institutional processes that set the rules of rationality On the other hand, they are an important embodiment of institutional commitments and serve to preserve these rules by constraining the actions of human agents The complexity inherent to enterprise technologies renders them an equivoque This, when combined with the propensity toward lack of mindfulness in organizations, is likely to lead to acquiescence to institutional pressures Enterprise information systems bind organizations to fundamental choices about how their activities should be organized; unquestioned choices that tend to appear natural We suggest implications of this view and develop propositions examining: (1) enterprise information systems as objects of institutional forces in the “chartering” and “project” phases, (2) the resolution of institutional misalignments caused by the introduction of new systems, and (3) enterprise information systems as carriers of institutional logics in the “shakeout” and “onward & upward” phases

People-focused knowledge management : how effective decision making leads to corporate success

Abstract: CONTENTS iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix PREAMBLE xi FOREWORD xiii CHAPTER 1 - COMPETING IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY REQUIRES EFFECTIVE ENTERPRISES 1 Premise 1-1: The Global Economy Demands Excellence The Competitive Enterprise Example The Global Economy Challenge The World Requires Us to Change KNOWLEDGE INTENSIVE WORK The Misunderstanding of Knowledge-intensive Work Knowledge-Intensity WORK IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY COMPLEX Complex Work Creates Greater Value THE SIX MAJOR CHALLENGES FOUR MANAGEMENT INITIATIVES Enterprise Effectiveness Requires Good Intellectual Capital Assets EXAMPLES OF STRUCTURAL INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE WORKERS CHAPTER 2 - THE EFFECTIVE ENTERPRISE Premise 2-1: Individual Actions Lead to Overall Enterprise Performance Premise 2-2: Effective Enterprise Behavior Leads to Success The Proactive and Decisive Company Example Management Philosophy Management Choices Knowledge-Related Practices and Actions Resulting Behavioral and Cultural Traits The Company's Business Results What Does It Mean for the Enterprise to Be Effective GOOD ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE RESULTS FROM EFFECTIVE PERSONAL ACTIONS EFFECTIVE ENTERPRISES RELY ON BROAD AND DEEP KNOWLEDGE WHAT IS SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE? EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL ENTERPRISE EFFECTIVENESS SUCCESS AND KNOWLEDGE-INTENSIVE WORK THE IMPORTANCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Productivity Is Not Always What We Expect! DIFFERENT KINDS OF PRODUCTIVITY VALUE CREATION AND PRODUCTIVITY A Systemic Model of Enterprise Performance CHANGING ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE TAKES TIME Characteristics of the Effective Enterprise SIX SUCCESS FACTORS FOR THE EFFECTIVE ENTERPRISE 1 Management Philosophy and Practice 2 Deliberate and Systematic Knowledge Management 3 Knowledge and Other Resources 4 Motivation and Personal Energy 5 Opportunities 6 Permission SIX BEHAVIORS OF THE EFFECTIVE ENTERPRISE 1 Ethical, Safe and Approachable Behavior 2 Effectiveness-Seeking Behavior 3 Consistent and Durable Behavior 4 Employee Engagement Behavior 5 Stakeholder Supportive Behavior 6 Competitive Behavior Successful Performance Is Durable Performance Is a Function of Many Factors Acting Simultaneously The Intellectual Asset Management Mentality Building and Exploiting Intellectual Capital Assets Are Important People Adopt New Mindsets! CHAPTER 3 - ACTIONS ARE INITIATED BY KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE: PEOPLE MAKE DECISIONS AND ACT USING DIFFERENT KINDS OF MENTAL FUNCTIONS Premise 3-1: The "Machinery of the Brain" Is a Useful Beginning Premise 3-2: The Mind-as-Machine Metaphor Does Not Cover Everything The Personal Reasoning Example Have We Misunderstood How People Think, Make Decisions and Act? THINKING, REASONING AND KNOWLEDGE Associations and Biases Govern Our Actions Information Is Not Knowledge! On Information, Knowledge and Discontinuity GOOD REASONING MATCHES KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION KNOWLEDGEABLE AND INFORMED DECISIONS DELIVER PERFORMANCE GOAL-DIRECTED REASONING RELIES ON GOALS, INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE Personal Knowledge Is Built from Mental Models ON MENTAL MODELS MANY MENTAL MODELS ARE BASED ON METAKNOWLEDGE The Importance of Metacognition The Importance of Implicit Learning The Personal and Enterprise Knowledge Evolution Cycle The Needs to Increase People's Knowledge KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED TO ACT EFFECTIVELY Examples of Approaches to Develop Mental Models in People CHAPTER 4 - MENTAL AND STRUCTURAL REFERENCE MODELS Premise 1: People Imitate Prior Behavior Premise 2: Organizations Reenact Past Practices The Personal Memory Example Mental Model Preview Personal Reference Models Reference Models Are Stories! Why Are Stories Important? IT IS ALWAYS HARD TO GRASP THE WHOLE COHERENTLY STORIES ARE UNSURPASSED FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION WE RELY ON STORIES TO TACKLE NEW PROBLEMS STORIES HELP US LEARN BETTER STORIES AND MENTAL SIMULATIONS Organizational Reference Models LEADERS CREATE POWERFUL REFERENCE MODELS CHAPTER 5 - A KNOWLEDGE MODEL FOR PERSONAL SITUATION-HANDLING Premise 5-1: Situation-Handling Requires Actions Premise 5-2: Good Situation-Handling Is the Result of Effective Actions Personal Situation-Handling: A Customer Service Example Introduction to Personal Situation-Handling THE GENERAL CONTEXT The Knowledge-Based Situation-Handling Model THE CUSTOMER SERVICE EXAMPLE REVISITED The Four Tasks of Situation-Handling SENSEMAKING AND SITUATIONAL AWARENESS Sensemaking Situational Awareness DECISION-MAKING/PROBLEM-SOLVING AND ACTION SPACE AND INNOVATION CAPABILITY Decision-Making Single-Stage and Multi-Stage Decision-Making Mental Simulations Problem-Solving Action-Space Innovation Capability IMPLEMENTATION AND EXECUTION CAPABILITY Implementation Execution Capability MONITORING AND GOVERNANCE COMPETENCE AND PERSPECTIVES Monitoring Governance Competence and Perspectives The Expert and the Novice: When Situations Are Not As First Believed Story-Based Reference Models Provide Situation-Handling Knowledge TOPIC DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE The Mental reference Models in Situation-Handling Understanding Adjacent Operations THE RELEVANCE OF GENERAL AND WORLD KNOWLEDGE CHAPTER 6 - ENTERPRISE SITUATION-HANDLING Proposition: Individual Situation-Handling Actions Lead to Consolidated Enterprise Behavior The Enterprise Situation-Handling Example The Situation Information Gathering Sensemaking Understanding the Situation Decision-Making/Problem-Solving and Action-Selection General Aspects Introduction to Enterprise Situation-Handling The Four Enterprise Situation-Handling Tasks SENSEMAKING AND SITUATIONAL AWARENESS Sensemaking in the Enterprise Enterprise Situational Awareness DECISION-MAKING/PROBLEM-SOLVING AND ACTION SPACE AND INNOVATION CAPABILITY Enterprise Decision-Making Enterprise Problem-Solving Enterprise Action Spaces Enterprise Innovation Capabilities IMPLEMENTATION AND EXECUTION CAPABILITY Implementation in the Enterprise Enterprise Execution Capability MONITORING AND GOVERNANCE COMPETENCE AND PERSPECTIVES Monitoring in the Enterprise Enterprise Governance Competence and Perspectives Enterprise Situation-Handling Has Many Levels The Importance of the Situation-Handling Model ENTERPRISE SITUATION-HANDLING MODEL INSIGHTS WHY SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED WITH DETAILS? Chapter 6 Appendix: Action Program Details of the Enterprise Situation-Handling Example CHAPTER 7 - PEOPLE-FOCUSED KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN DAILY OPERATIONS Premise 7-1: Knowledge Drives Enterprise Performance Premise 7-2: Knowledge Must Be Managed Premise 7-3: Effective Knowledge Management Must Be People-Focused Premise 7-4: Six Factors Determine Personal Knowledge-Related Effectiveness The Vigilant Knowledge Company Example New Generation Knowledge Management NEW GENERATION KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IS DIFFERENT NEW OPPORTUNITIES REQUIRE NEW EFFORTS AND DIRECTIONS New Generation Knowledge Management Perspectives DELIBERATE AND SYSTEMATIC KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT New Generation Knowledge Management Foci The Bar Has Been Raised - NGKM Implications STARTING THE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE Problems with Conventional Knowledge Management NEW GENERATION KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES Knowledge-Related Mentality and Corporate Culture THE ENTERPRISE CULTURE FOUR KEY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT THRUSTS THE POWER OF ROLE MODELS, EXAMPLES AND PRACTICES Making Everybody Understand UNDERSTANDING THE ENTERPRISE DIRECTION AND CONTEXT THE SERVICE PARADIGM Knowledge-Related Effectiveness and Efficiency KNOWLEDGE EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY Knowledge Effectiveness Knowledge Efficiency KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY Knowledge Management Effectiveness Knowledge Management Efficiency CHAPTER 8 - PEOPLE-FOCUSED KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT EXPECTATIONS Premise: People-Focused Knowledge management Supports Global Excellence The Global Leader Example What Future Knowledge Management Business User May Expect The Business Environment Is under Pressure SUCCESS RELIES UPON KNOWLEDGEABLE BEHAVIOR EXPECTED KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENTS THE CHANGING WORKPLACE Knowledge Will Be Bought and Sold Societal Side-Effects We Are Far from Finished! New Enterprises and Integrative Management Objectives of Integrative Management In Complex Businesses, Better Practices Are Required Intellectual Work Is Indeed Complex HOW DO WE IMPLEMENT INTEGRATIVE MANAGEMENT? Final Thoughts OUR PRESENT DIRECTION THE SOCIETAL CONUNDRUM - WHAT SHALL WE DO? APPENDICES APPENDIX A - EXAMPLES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS TOOLS Knowledge Assets Mapping Knowledge Flow Charting and Analysis Knowledge Management Benefit Assessment Knowledge Diagnostics Critical Knowledge Function Analysis Knowledge Vigilance Survey Approaches APPENDIX B - EXAMPLES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND INITIATIVES Knowledge-Supported Mentality and Culture Changes Knowledge-Supported Enterprise Strategy Implementation Transfers of Expert Concepts to Other Practitioners Expert Networks "Town Meetings" and Knowledge Cafes Options for Sharing and Spreading Expertise Intelligent Performance Support Systems (IPSS) APPENDIX C - MEMORY AND KNOWLEDGE CATEGORIZATIONS Human Memory Organization Personal Knowledge Structural Knowledge Domains of Knowledge Types of Knowledge GLOSSARY REFERENCES AND RECOMMENDED READINGS INDEX

Concepts for modeling enterprise architectures

Abstract: A coherent description of enterprise architecture provides insight, enables communication among stakeholders and guides complicated change processes. Unfortunately, so far no enterprise architectur...

Enterprise Resource Planning

Abstract: Chapter 1. A Foundation for Understanding Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Chapter 2. Re-engineering and Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Chapter 3. Planning, Design, and Implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Chapter 4. ERP Systems: Accounting and Finance Chapter 5. ERP Systems: Sales and Marketing Chapter 6. ERP Systems: Production and Materials Management Chapter 7. ERP Systesm: Human Resources Chapter 8. Managing an ERP Project Index

Justifying the decisions for EAI implementations: a validated proposition of influential factors

Abstract: Enterprise integration is considered to be of great strategic significance in the support of organisations to achieve a competitive advantage. Traditional approaches to integration such as electronic data interchange (EDI) have provided a wide range of benefits but have not managed to fully automate and integrate business processes and applications. In addressing many of the limitations of EDI to piece together disparate systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions introduced an alternative approach to integration. Although ERP systems overcome significant integration problems, they have failed to adequately support intra and inter‐organisational integration. There has been a great demand by organisations to overcome integration problems and become more competitive. In this respect, enterprise application integration (EAI) has emerged to address intra and inter‐organisational integration in a more flexible and maintainable way. The normative literature remains limited regarding this emerging area and there is consequently a need for further research and contribution in identifying influential factors for EAI adoption. In addressing this relative void in the literature, this paper proposes a model for the justification and evaluation of EAI adoptions. The proposed model can be used by organisations as a tool for decision making when considering the adoption of EAI.

ERP requirements engineering practice: lessons learned

Abstract: Standard off-the-shelf requirements engineering processes have become a key to conceptualizing any integrated, corporate-wide solution based on packaged enterprise resource planning software. A generic RE model offers defined processes, suggests process stakeholders, specifies steps to accomplish tasks, indicates task dependencies, and provides standard tool support for ERP RE. Essentially, any off-the-shelf RE process is about composition and reconciliation: you start with a general set of business process and data requirements, then explore standard ERP functionality to see how closely it matches your organization's process and data needs.

Essentials of Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm

Abstract: I. Organizations, Management and the Networked Enterprise. 1. Managing the Digital Firm. 2. Information Systems in the Enterprise. 3. Information Systems, Organizations, Management, and Strategy. 4. The Digital Firm: Electronic Business and Electronic Commerce. 5. Ethical and Social Issues in the Digital Firm. Project. Analyzing Business Processes for an Enterprise System. II. Information Technology Infrastructure. 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise. 7. Managing Data Resources. 8. Telecommunications, Networks and Wireless Computing. 9. The Internet: Information Technology Infrastructure for the Digital Firm. Project. Creating a New Internet Business. III. Organizational and Management Support Systems for the Digital Firm. 10. Enterprise Applications and Business Process Integration. 11. Managing Knowledge in the Digital Firm. 12. Enhancing Management Decisionmaking for the Digital Firm. Project: Designing an Enterprise Information Portal. IV. Building Information Systems in the Digital Firm. 13. Redesigning the Organization with Information Systems. 14. Understanding the Business Value of Systems and Managing Change. 15. Information System Security and Control. Project: Redesigning Business Processes for Healthlite Yogurt Company. International Case Studies. Appendix 1. Hands-on Guide. References. Glossary. Indexes. Photo Credits/Screen Shots.

Dominant actors, political agendas, and strategic shifts over time: a critical ethnography of an enterprise systems implementation

Abstract: Much of the literature on enterprise systems implementation suggests that ERP systems should support the strategic objectives of the organization. In fact some ERP vendors tend to assume that implementing their products is a straightforward translation from strategy to IT-enabled business processes. But the strategic management literature reveals that corporate strategy is often contested terrain. Conflict over strategy has the potential to delay or derail ERP implementation efforts, leading to cost overruns, failures, and lack of expected benefits. This paper seeks to understand and explain how conflicts over strategy can affect the success of ERP implementations. We studied one firm's attempt to pursue information technology-enabled enterprise integration using critical ethnography. The firm is a small-to-medium sized enterprise within a large conglomerate in the Asia-Pacific region. Our findings show that, as the dominant actors and political agendas changed, so too did the company's enterprise integration strategy. The ERP system was designed to support a future corporate world and work environment that never arrived.

Enterprise architecture measures of effectiveness

Abstract: Today, many organisations are concerned with how to successfully transition to organisations utilising information technology to its fullest strategic extent. It has become widely recognised that an organisation's enterprise architecture plays a key role in the transition and many organisations are now investing significant amounts of resources into developing or improving their enterprise architecture. From a functional perspective, an enterprise architecture explains how all the information technology elements in an organisation – systems, processes, organisations, and people – work together as a whole. For an organisation to continue to justify expending resources on enterprise architecture, it must be able to show positive effects of enterprise architecture efforts. However, demonstrating the positive effects of enterprise architecture is difficult because it is always changing and its effects cannot be directly or easily measured. There are a number of methods for demonstrating effectiveness of enterprise architecture. These include developing measures of effectiveness for the enterprise architecture based on critical operational issues or objectives of the enterprise architecture. This paper discusses these methods and suggests strategies for measuring the effectiveness of enterprise architectures.

Enterprise Systems Architecting: Emerging Art and Science within Engineering Systems

Abstract: With the growing complexity of systems, there is a corresponding increase in the complexity of the enterprises that develop, operate, and sustain such systems in an increasingly global environment. This drives the need to take a broader view of enterprises as systems in themselves to which we must apply the principles and practices of architecting. The current practice of Enterprise Architecting has been a significant contribution to creating and sustaining modern enterprises; however, we feel the current field is not a sufficient approach to the enterprises of this new century. A broader and more holistic approach is needed in context of an engineering systems perspective, drawing on the emerging systems architecting field, and taking into account new paradigms and environmental drivers. In the paper, we propose Enterprise Systems Architecting as an emerging art and science within the field of Engineering Systems. We discuss our present research focus, as well as some of the promising research being done by others that can contribute to this emerging area.

Enterprise Search: Tough Stuff: Why is it that searching an intranet is so much harder than searching the Web?

Abstract: The last decade has witnessed the growth of information retrieval from a boutique discipline in information and library science to an everyday experience for billions of people around the world. This revolution has been driven in large measure by the Internet, with vendors focused on search and navigation of Web resources and Web content management. Simultaneously, enterprises have invested in networking all of their information together to the point where it is increasingly possible for employees to have a single window into the enterprise. Although these employees seek Web-like experiences in the enterprise, the Internet and enterprise domains differ fundamentally in the nature of the content, user behavior, and economic motivations.

Complex System Classification

Abstract: Engineering Systems Division and Mechanical Engineering, Center for Innovation in Product Development

The roles of IT : studies of organising when implementing and using enterprise systems

Abstract: This study concerns implementation and use of enterprise systems (ERP systems) in complex organisations. The purpose of this thesis is to problematise and understand the social organising of inform ...

Universal Manager: seamless management of enterprise mobile and non-mobile devices

Abstract: Seamless management of resource constrained wireless devices along with enterprise hosts is complex because of the multitude of management protocols and architectures. An atomic and coordinated management action that spans the scale of the enterprise is needed. In this paper we present the architecture and our experiences in building a Universal Manager that manages all mobile and non-mobile devices in the enterprise. We came up with a multi-protocol gateway that blends intermittently connected mobile devices seamlessly with enterprise hosts. Our implementation of SyncML based mobile devices integrated with SNMP based enterprise manager is deployed in the enterprise and performance results are presented.

An enterprise integration methodology

Abstract: As more and more organizations pursue the benefits of e-business, they are looking to a process called enterprise integration, or EI, as a key technical enabler in transforming their business processes. A typical form of EI is Webification; in this scenario, a company wants to offer its existing products and services over the Internet, so it builds Web front-end systems and integrates them to its backend legacy systems. (In this article, we use "legacy system" to mean any IT system already in operation.) A more complex El scenario involves enterprise application integration. By this process, the organization links up previously separate and isolated systems to give them greater leverage. For example, an organization might integrate a customer-relationship-management system, a call center system, and legacy customer account systems to give the organization a consolidated view of its customers. An emerging EI scenario is business-to-business (B2B) integration (also called extended enterprise models), which occurs when an organization integrates its own business processes with those of its business partners to improve efficiency within a collaborative value chain.

Understanding the Contextual Influences on Enterprise System Design, Implementation, Use and Evaluation

Abstract: Understanding the contextual influences on enterprise system design, implementation, use and evaluation

A unified behavioural model and a contract language for extended enterprise

Abstract: This paper presents a coordination model for expressing behaviour in an extended enterprise. Our model is unified because it enables the same style of expressions for describing behaviour/structure in a self-contained enterprise and for describing cross-enterprise behaviour/structure. This model can support a broad range of modelling activities but the specific focus of this paper is on deriving the key elements of a domain language primarily targeted at expressing and monitoring behavioural conditions stated in business contracts. We also show how business contracts serve as a unifying mechanism for describing interactions in the extended enterprise.

Qualitative Case Studies on Implementation of Enterprise Wide Systems

Abstract: The book brings together recent qualitative research studies in enterprise-wide implementations. The collection is useful as a teaching case for academia, a student reference and also for academics, researchers and IT practitioners who wish to gain a broad view of ERP implementation success and failure, The book provides relevant methodologies and recent empirical research findings in the area and includes sufficient background information for an understanding of each case but focuses on providing a rich description of more than a dozen real life cases.

A roadmap for enterprise system implementation

Abstract: Enterprise systems are complex and expensive and create dramatic organizational change. Implementing an enterprise system can be the "corporate equivalent of a root canal," a meaningful analogy given that an ES with its single database replaces myriad special-purpose legacy systems that once operated in isolation. An ES, or enterprise resource planning system, has the Herculean task of seamlessly supporting and integrating a full range of business processes, uniting functional islands and making their data visible across the organization in real time. The authors offer guidelines based on five years of observing ES implementations that can help managers circumvent obstacles and control the tensions during and after the project.

Fundamental Features and Approaches of The S-Step Enterprise*

Abstract: The story here is in three parts. Part 1 discusses what is gained from a systematic analysis of the s-step enterprise’s basic features or “commonplaces.” In the present case, it proffides readers not only with an organized view of the forest, but also a view of exemplars of each species of tree. Part 2 presents what Part 1 promises. After presenting criteria for selecting representative studies, it describes fourteen basic features of the field extracted from analysis of 125 representative studies. After examining in detail the six most prominent features, Part 2 proceeds to detail various approaches within each feature. Part 3 offers reflections on how the field might be enriched and advanced, and positions the s-step enterprise within the academy.

Extending the information system lifecycle through enterprise application integration: a case study experience

Abstract: Enterprise application integration (EAI) technologies support a direct move away from disparate systems operating in parallel towards a more common shared architecture, where systems evolve and merge together. Such an emergence however, presents a paradigm shift in the way that information system (IS) lifecycles are viewed. The integration of IS in-line with the needs of the business is altering IS identity and extending their lifecycle. This makes evaluating the full impact of the system difficult, as it has no definitive start and/or end. The authors demonstrate, through a case study of IS applications within an e-government framework, that EAI can be used as a portfolio of technologies that improves infrastructure integration. However, in doing so, the authors create the need to re-think traditional IS-lifecycle norms.

Systems engineering in an age of complexity

Abstract: This work considers the creation of complex engineered systems (CES) and the systems engineering approach by which they are designed. The changing nature of the challenges facing systems engineering is discussed, with particular focus on the increasing complexity of modern systems. It is argued that modern complexity poses a major challenge to our ability to achieve successful systems and that this complexity must be understood, predicted and measured if we are to engineer systems confidently. We acknowledge previous work, which concluded that in complex systems, failures ("accidents") may be inevitable and unavoidable. To further explore potential tools for increasing our confidence in complex systems, we review research in the field of complexity theory to seek potentially useful approaches and measures and find ourselves particularly interested in the potential usefulness of relationships between the magnitudes of events and their frequency of occurrence. Complexity theory is found to have characterized naturally occurring systems and to potentially be the source of profitable application to the systems engineering challenge, viz., the creation of complex engineered systems. We are left with the tentative conclusion that truly complex systems, with our present understanding of complex behavior, cannot be designed with a degree in confidence that is acceptable given our current expectations. We recommend that the discipline of systems engineering must investigate this issue as a matter of priority and urgency and seek to develop approaches to respond to the challenge.

Integrating the IS with the enterprise: key EAI research challenges

Abstract: Enterprise application integration (EAI) technologies provide the means to integrate strategic business solutions within and across the component parts of organisational information system infrastructures. The continuing development of both digitally integrated business models, through various eCommerce and eBusiness initiatives, has meant that the importance of EAI within enterprise IS, has increased significantly. Noting that EAI incurs not only technological but stakeholder‐level commitments, this paper outlines the product of a sustained investigation into key challenges within enterprise IS and EAI, and provides a framework for future research and investigation into this emerging and evolving area.