Armin Heinzl

Tailoring ERP systems: a spectrum of choices and their implications

The IS literature distinguishes between custom-built and off-the-shelf software. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) packages are often viewed as off-the-shelf software, because adopters implement them by setting parameters (called configuration), rather traditional programming. Making changes to ERP software code (called modification) is usually strongly discouraged by vendors and implementation consultants. Nevertheless, field research has shown that many companies have had to modify ERP software in various ways to meet essential business needs. This suggests that ERP packages do not fit cleanly into the custom/off-the shelf distinction. The authors describe a portfolio of tailoring options between configuration and modification, with important implications for implementation risk and the difficulty of ERP system upgrades. They discuss the implications of their framework for practitioners and for further research on ERP systems.

The impact of cultural differences in offshore outsourcing--Case study results from German---Indian application development projects

Offshore outsourcing to vendors in foreign countries causes unique challenges which need to be understood and managed effectively. This paper explores cultural differences in IS offshoring arrangements involving German client organizations that outsource application development activities to Indian vendors. For this purpose, a research framework is developed based on both theoretical considerations and specific empirical observations from multiple case studies. The goal is to (1) explore the nature of cultural differences in offshore outsourcing arrangements in depth and to (2) analyze the relationship between those cultural differences and offshore outsourcing success. Based on the case findings, implications and practices for the management of offshore development projects are outlined. The results indicate that cultural differences in terms of power distance, IS designer values, and an active versus passive working attitude critically affect several dimensions of relationship quality, thereby influencing offshore outsourcing success. A clear definition of roles and mechanisms, strong leadership, and an active management of culture by adapting to either the client’s or the vendor’s national culture appeared to be effective ways to manage cultural differences.

Network random keys: a tree representation scheme for genetic and evolutionary algorithms

When using genetic and evolutionary algorithms for network design, choosing a good representation scheme for the construction of the genotype is important for algorithm performance. One of the most common representation schemes for networks is the characteristic vector representation. However, with encoding trees, and using crossover and mutation, invalid individuals occur that are either under or overspecified. When constructing the offspring or repairing the invalid individuals that do not represent a tree, it is impossible to distinguish between the importance of the links that should be used. These problems can be overcome by transferring the concept of random keys from scheduling and ordering problems to the encoding of trees. This paper investigates the performance of a simple genetic algorithm (SGA) using network random keys (NetKeys) for the one-max tree and a real-world problem. The comparison between the network random keys and the characteristic vector encoding shows that despite the effects of stealth mutation, which favors the characteristic vector representation, selectorecombinative SGAs with NetKeys have some advantages for small and easy optimization problems. With more complex problems, SGAs with network random keys significantly outperform SGAs using characteristic vectors. This paper shows that random keys can be used for the encoding of trees, and that genetic algorithms using network random keys are able to solve complex tree problems much faster than when using the characteristic vector. Users should therefore be encouraged to use network random keys for the representation of trees.

Erkenntnisziele der Wirtschaftsinformatik in den nächsten drei und zehn Jahren

Armin Heinzl, Wolfgang Konig, Joachim Hack Future Research Subjects of the German speaking IS Community: a Three Year and Ten Year Perspective Abstract: Which future research subjects shall be pursued by the German speaking IS community (Wirtschaftsinformatik) in order to maintain competitive against other disciplines like business administration and computer science? This article summarizes the major results of a Delphi study which was conducted in 1999 in order to answer this question drawing on the expertise of leading academics and practitioners in the field. Thus, the foundations of this study will be outlined as well as its methodology and its main findings. Which future research subjects shall be pursued by the German speaking IS community (Wirtschaftsinformatik) in order to maintain competitive against other disciplines like business administration and computer science? This article summarizes the major results of a Delphi study which was conducted in 1999 in order to answer this question drawing on the expertise of leading academics and practitioners in the field. Thus, the foundations of this study will be outlined as well as its methodology and its main findings.

Approaches to Collaborative Software Development

Software development is becoming more and more complex. Traditionally and to date, the software development process rather corresponds to job-shop manufacturing. Therefore, the ever growing demands for different kinds of software as well as the ongoing globalization require more efficient development processes. Both scientific literature and practical experience hence postulate a necessary industrialization of software development and design of novel forms of specialization, task distribution, and collaboration. Existing approaches to collaborative software development can be classified and analyzed according to multiple categories. By evaluating these, current deficiencies are identified and discussed for further investigation.

Using Computer Simulation in Operating Room Management: Impacts on Process Engineering and Performance

Operating rooms are regarded as the most costly hospital facilities. Due to rising costs and decreasing reimbursements, it is necessary to optimize the efficiency of the operating room suite. In this context several strategies have been proposed that optimize patient throughput by redesigning perioperative processes. The successful deployment of effective practices for continuous process improvements in operating rooms can require that operating room management sets targets and monitors improvements throughout all phases of process engineering. Simulation can be used to study the effects of process improvements through novel facilities, technologies and/or strategies. In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework to use computer simulations in different stages of business process management (BPM) lifecycle for operating room management. Additionally, we conduct simulation studies in different stages of the BPM lifecycle. The results of our studies provide evidence that simulation can provide effective decision support to drive performance in operating rooms in several phases of the BPM lifecycle

Evaluation of Generic Process Design Patterns: An Experimental Study

In this chapter we present a framework for evaluating generic process design patterns. This framework is developed and tested for call center organizations as one specific application domain at first but will be modified for other domains in the future. As starting point we briefly examine available contributions from organizational theory and operations research which are applicable for evaluating generic process design patterns. Based on this we will identify the most relevant process patterns in our application domain and work out relevant performance criteria. In the second part of the chapter the evaluation framework will be tested within an experimental study. Thereby we compare different process partitioning strategies as typical design patterns in call centers. Our analysis will provide insight to the question under which circumstances a specific design pattern is preferable towards another.

Foreword to the special issue on IS sourcing

Information systems (IS) sourcing refers to the entire set of processes ranging from initiating and preparing the decision to provide an organizations IS functions. IS sourcing is closely related to the steady change and provides a collection of research studies that have either addressed one or more of the research gaps in traditional IS outsourcing. It gained momentum by the appearance of IS outsourcing megadeals involving clients such as Kodak, Continental Bank, and BP with providers such as Electronic Data Systems and International Business Machines. The IS outsourcing phenomenon has moved beyond the boundaries of the IS function to include entire information technology (IT)-supported business processes.

Agent-Based Patient Scheduling in Hospitals

Patient scheduling in hospitals is a very complex task. This complexity stems from the distributed structure of hospitals and the dynamics of the treatment process. Hospitals consist of various autonomous, administratively distinct units which are visited by the patients according to their individual disease. However, the pathways (the needed medical actions) and the medical priorities (the health condition of the patients) are likely to change due to new findings about the diseases of the patients during examination. Moreover, the durations of the treatments and examinations are stochastic. Additional problems for patient scheduling in hospitals arise from complications and emergencies. Thus, patient scheduling in hospitals requires a distributed and flexible approach. To this end, a flexible, agent-based approach to patient scheduling is developed in this chapter. After a description of the addressed patient scheduling problem, the proposed mechanism for patient-scheduling is presented and evaluated.

Der Einfluss kultureller Unterschiede beim IT-Offshoring

KernpunkteDieser Beitrag zeigt auf der Basis von sechs Anwendungsentwicklungsprojekten in Indien, welche kulturellen Einflussgrößen bei der Auslagerung von IT-Projekten einzubeziehen sind, wie diese Determinanten den Projekterfolg beeinflussen und durch welche Maßnahmen von Seiten des Managements kulturelle Herausforderungen zur Sicherung des Projekterfolgs gemeistert werden können:Als kritische Kulturfaktoren haben sich Unterschiede in der Machtdistanz, dem Designverständnis und der aktiven versus passiven Arbeitseinstellung herauskristallisiert.Diese Faktoren wirken direkt auf wichtige Stellgrößen der Beziehungsqualität, wie dem Vertrauen, der Leistung des Anbieters, dem Grad der Kooperation und auftretenden Konflikten. Auf diese Weise wirken sie indirekt auf den Erfolg von Offshoring-Projekten.Eine klare Definition von Rollen und Mechanismen, starke Mitarbeiterführung und ein aktives Kulturmanagement, das eine Anpassung an die Kultur des Kunden oder an die des Anbieters beinhaltet, haben sich als effektive Managementmaßnahmen zur Bewältigung kultureller Herausforderungen herausgestellt.AbstractRecently, offshoring of information systems (IS) services to external vendors has seen considerable growth. Outsourcing to vendors in foreign countries causes unique challenges which need to be understood and managed effectively. This paper explores cultural differences in IS offshoring arrangements involving German client organizations that outsource application development activities to Indian vendors. For this purpose, a research framework is developed based on both theoretical considerations and specific empirical observations from multiple case studies. The goal is to (1) explore the nature of cultural differences in offshoring arrangements in depth and to (2) analyze the relationship between those cultural differences and offshoring success.