Combining Operations Management and Information Systems Curricula: Assessing Alumni Preparations for the Workforce

Objective: the purpose of the entire work is to help system analysts involved in assessing the quality of information sys tems (IS) operation during their creation, operation, modernization, development, to form the appearance of a comprehensive probabilistic prediction methodology applicable in the interests of ensuring quality and safety, justifying acceptable risks, identifying significant threats and supporting the adoption of scientifically rational system decisions to proactively counter threats in IS life cycle. The purpose of the 3rd part of the work is to complete the detailing of the general methodological provisions on the probabilistic prediction of the quality of IS operation quality (taking into account the enlarged description of the approach in the 1st part of the article [1] and the presentation of the basics of detailing modeling using «black boxes» in the 2nd part of the article [2]) by proposing: • the formalization of complex modeled systems consisting of parallel-sequential structures formed from «black boxes» and combined using logical connections «AND», «OR»; • the methods of system analysis of the IS operation quality; • the main components of the appearance of a comprehensive methodology for the probabilistic predicting IS operation quality, used by system analysts in the interests of ensuring quality and safety, justifying acceptable risks, identifying significant threats and supporting the adoption of scientifically based system decisions to proactively counter threats in the life cycle of specific IS. Research methods include: methods of probability theory, methods of system analysis. The modeled system is formally represented by «black boxes» and complex systems in the form of parallel-sequential structures formed from «black boxes» combined using logical connections «AND», «OR». The obtained results of mathematical modeling are used in the interpretation of the original IS, in the interests of which the corresponding calculations are carried out. The result of the work as a whole is: based on the research results presented in [1, 2], methodological provisions have been created that form the main components of the appearance of a complex methodology for probabilistic prediction of IS operation quality in accordance with GOST R 59341-2021 «System engineering. Protection of information in system information management process». The use of the proposed methodological provisions is intended to help system analysts form the appearance of a versatile complex methodology of probabilistic prediction, applicable in the interests of ensuring quality and safety, justifying acceptable risks, identifying significant threats and supporting the adoption of scientifically sound system decisions to proactively counter threats in the life cycle of specific IS. Scientific novelty of the work: with the widespread introduction of modern information technology tools and systems, the problems associated with a comprehensive study of the IS operation quality remain acutely relevant. Despite the fact that many system engineering standards have appeared that recommend the use of probabilistic system analysis for various types of systems, in practice, the formation of a set of techniques applicable to predicting quality measures, justifying acceptable risks, identifying significant threats and supporting the adoption of scientifically sound system decisions in IS life cycle causes practical difficulties for system analysts. These difficulties and the use of subjective assessments are related not only to the versatility of the very concept of IS operation quality, but also to the complexity of mathematical formalization, taking into account the specifics of each system. As a result, many important aspects are beyond the analyst's field of consideration, specific quality measures turn out to be incommensurable on a single quantitative scale, and the inverse analytical tasks of proactive threat management in IS life cycle and constituent elements are not solved. I.e., in practice, there is a contradiction between the needs for system analysis of IS and the possibilities for solving urgent problems of system analysis. To overcome this contradiction, the proposed methodological provisions formulate the general purpose of IS operation in various areas applications – to ensure the reliability and timeliness of providing the necessary information, completeness, validity and safety of the information used for subsequent intended use. The main proposed components of the complex methodology of probabilistic prediction of IS operation quality have determined the scientific novelty of this work, focused precisely on achieving this general formulated goal of IS operation.

2010 Practice Analysis: Professional competencies and work categories in public relations today

Purpose – The purpose of this research synthesis is to gather and integrate findings on Collaborative Planning Forecast and Replenishment (CPFR) as a business process and as a management practice; and to assemble quantitative evidence of its impact on supply chain (SC) performance. Design/methodology/approach – The researchers independently conducted a systematic review of 629 abstracts and 47 full-text papers. Original keywords were applied to four key electronic databases for operations management and information systems. Rigorous and verifiable selection criteria governed inter-coders reliability, review of steps and exclusion of papers. Resource and dependency-based view of the firm, contingency research and maturity models informed the analysis. Findings – There is not a single “blueprint” for CPFR. Competing models emphasize the need for “trust and confidence” and reliable data systems. The type of products, scope, spatial diversity and number of partners in the network are important contextual variables. Firm resources that are unique and advantages from multiple and reciprocal dependencies are powerful levers. There is no consensus on maturity model and on required investment in data and communication systems. Practical implications – Practical implications are implementation related: cost-benefit analysis and simulations should precede full-scale collaboration. There is a consensus on starting CPFR small and expanding gradually. Originality/value – This synthesis applies a rigorous review method and attempts to assemble the dispersed literature in one study, utilizing explanatory operations management and information systems theories.

This article forms part of research-in-progress aimed toward creating a comprehensive graduate development framework that will assist Information Systems (IS) departments in increasing the quality and quantity of their enrollments and graduates. In this article, we present the IS Graduate Development Framework (ISGDF). This framework combines concepts from four related fields of IS study into a single framework for identifying the graduate development potential of IS institutions, courses, and development projects. These four fields of study are: (i) Information and Communication Technology for Development, (ii) economic labor market theory that relates to IS labor, (iii) a study of IS education concepts and course structures, and (iv) a study of IS labor within the creative industries. We present the ISGDF based on literature from these fields of study and show how this framework can be applied by means of a comprehensive case study example. The case study gives a detailed account of how the framework was used to identify, and improve, the graduate development potential of an IS graduate development project. Findings from the case study include several areas for possible improvement of IS curricula to increase the graduate development potential of IS departments. Although the case study was conducted in a South African context, we suggest that the ISGDF, and case study findings report in this article, can be useful for informing IS departments toward increasing graduate quality and quantity in their own contexts.

PurposeThis paper, which is both case study and conceptual in nature, presents a relative cost-benefit model to explain why people engage in criminal activity. It then uses the model to motivate a discussion of the major policy approaches to recidivism reduction and desistance, or decreasing the frequency and severity of criminal activity, a more nuanced measure of harm reduction than the binary concept of recidivism typically used to evaluate program success. Several private programs have successfully reduced recidivism and improved measures of desistance but remain applicable only to those who self-select into them. Changed policies and incentives, however, could stimulate social entrepreneurs to search for programs applicable to additional segments of the prison population.Design/methodology/approachThis paper describes case studies informed by economic theories of crime and incentive alignment. Most approaches to recidivism reduction/desistance have failed, but several programs, including the DOE Fund and PEP, have proven extremely effective: the first by employing former convicts in starter jobs and the latter by teaching inmates about entrepreneurship and general business skills and mentoring them after release.FindingsSuccessful cases cannot simply be scaled up because inmates self-select into the programs. Instead, policymakers should encourage further competition and innovation in the field by paying NGOs each week they manage to keep the formerly imprisoned persons in their charge alive and out of the criminal justice system.Research limitations/implicationsCase study and theoretical. Not yet tried in the real world.Practical implicationsLower recidivism, more desistance for the same budget.Social implicationsHumans will be better treated than currently.Originality/valueInstead of offering a specific recidivism reduction panacea, this paper suggests that incentive alignment and competition for funding will encourage nonprofit NGOs to discover which programs work best for different types of inmates.

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PurposeInformation technology changes rapidly, and the market trend flow changes even faster. The information systems (IS) department in a technological oriented environment has to ensure that the plans or solutions made by the IS department can align with organizational strategy to avoid resources waste, and adaptability is a crucial issue for an IS department too. This study believes that adaptability and alignment of the IS department are ambidexterity. The concept of knowledge use effectiveness (KUE), based on the human agency theory, proposed a research model mainly founded on intellectual capital, human agency theory, and contextual ambidexterity, and used intellectual capital (including human, structure and relational capital) as a framework to find the antecedents of knowledge usage.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducts an empirical research method and collects 150 valid cases from the IS department employees in Taiwan.FindingsThe results of this study are: (1) KUE in an IS department significantly improves the ambidexterity; (2) intellectual capital has a positive influence on KUE; (3) despite human capital having no influence on iteration, iterational KUE has no influence on adaptability.Originality/valueFor academics, this study has developed KUE through a novel perspective and uses the concept of the human agency to articulate the characteristic of KUE, and thus has combined the intellectual capital, human agency and contextual ambidexterity into a research model. For managers, they should learn that KUE has a positive effect on the IS department ambidexterity, composed of alignment and adaptability. By knowing that, they can understand the concrete elaboration of KUE much better. Therefore, enhancing the process of knowledge usage can be a practical and useful way of improving an IS department performance.

The Workforce Composition of Young Firms and Product Innovation - Complementarities in the Skills of Founders and Their Early Employees

Special Issue of <i>Production and Operations Management</i> on “Operations Management and Information Systems Interface”

Special Issue of <i>Production and Operations Management</i> : Operations Management and Information Systems Interface

Special Issue of <i>Production and Operations Management</i> : Operations Management and Information Systems Interface

Taking the performance evaluation of power systems as core, a new energy-saving management mode was proposed based on the routine and special evaluation for economic operation and energy-saving management of related systems and equipment. The technical reconstruction, maintenance, S&T planning and projects were proposed by means of current energy-consuming standard, identification and prediction of energy-saving potential. This mode integrated the science & technology management with the production management, such as operation, technical retrofit and maintenance. The solutions for several key supporting technologies were analyzed to build the energy-saving index system, technical standard system and information system. The scientific, complete and operational management system and technical supporting system were researched for the energy saving and consumption reduction of power generation groups. It laid a solid foundation to build the system of energy saving and consumption reduction.

Over the past few decades, the advent of the digital revolution has transformed the landscapes of all utilities. Sewage treatment is one of them. Information technology (IT) has increasingly been incorporated into all operational aspects of the sewage treatment industry, and particularly in the last decade, it has become an indispensable tool without which the industry cannot keep going, thanks to increasing automation of sewage treatment plants. Not only is IT used exclusively for automation. An area that is receiving increasing attention lately in terms of the value added of applying IT to support business decision making and operation is asset management. In order to effectively and efficiently manage assets in sewage treatment plants, the Drainage Services Department has transformed their life-cycle management system of sewage treatment asset from paper-based processes to an IT-based system. In the heart of this IT system is an application called “Sewage Treatment Operation and Maintenance Management Information System (STOMMIS)”, which involves the synchronization and direct integration of multiple IT systems, including process control and automation systems, maintenance management and stock control systems, financial information system, and laboratory information systems. Data collected by STOMMIS are stored in a data warehouse for analysis to support optimization of maintenance activities as well as the development of asset replacement plan based on asset conditions and risks. Over time, the use of information technology to support asset management will only evolve and increase. This will include the use of intelligent devices on assets that will be able to monitor and report back their capacity, use, and downtimes. This paper will give an overview on what the Drainage Services Department, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has done in terms of applying IT to asset management in sewage treatment plants and the way forward for continual improvement.

Although companies systematically introduce management systems to improve performance and reduce major accident risks, gaps remain. The mismatch between HSE management system and practical HSE works, line and HSE departments and HSE requirements and actions exerts significant negative impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of HSE management. Under these circumstances, operational management system (OMS), barrier management system (BMS), process safety management and asset integrity management are all studied and applied in an oilfield. The oilfield experienced nine years of development, and the production capacity increased from 4,000 to 400,000 barrels per day. Almost 7,000 people were working in the oilfield during peak time from around 40 countries. During such a development, HSE management was extremely challengeable, and a practical and integrated HSE risk management model was pursued and established. This paper describes a method of HSE risk management integration called safety net model. The model physically segregates oilfield facilities into individually managed areas or grids. A safety grid is the basic unit of a safety net, and the safety net comprises a series of correlative and interactive safety grids from bottom to up. OMS, HEMP and BMS are the bases of safety net model. Each safety grid complies with the principle of twin orientations: the identification of HSE hazards and assessment of HSE risks and the formulation and substantiation of systematic risk control measures. Specifically, the safety grid has two sets of basic components: hazard, output and time (HOT) and authority, boundary and control (ABC). HOT refers to hazard orientation, and ABC refers to risk control orientation. Two sets of components define attributes of each safety grid. The risk profile is assessed for each grid, in which technical safety and consequence studies are introduced to visually represent at risk locations. Overlaying contours and process boundaries as typical examples result in a simplified model that enables area owners to recognise risks, controls and mitigations so that they can introduce suitable risk reduction measures for safe operations. Through components (HOT ABC) of each safety grid, OMS and BMS are introduced to operational sites and positions directly and easily. Six components are connection points of every safety grid, and all safety grids are knitted to an integrated safety net. The implementation of safety net model contributes to good HSE performance of the oilfield studied, and the resulting performance is recognised and appreciated by local government and funding parties. This paper focuses on how to communicate the information in compliance with the principle of twin orientations from safety studies recorded in OMS and BMS to the safety grid. Comprising safety grids, safety net model is an applicable and practical carrier of integrated HSE risk management.

agile information systems, flexible information systems development, distributed information systems development, global software development, software development, special issue