Gerhard Knolmayer

Modeling Processes and Workflows by Business Rules

This contribution describes a rule-based method for modeling business processes and workflows. Business rules are defined as statements about guidelines and restrictions with respect to states and processes in an organization. After introducing an extended Event-Condition-Action (ECA) notation, an approach for the refinement of business rules is developed in order to achieve a consistent decomposition of the business processes. Thus, ECA rules serve as an integration layer between different process modeling and (workflow) specification languages. Finally, we propose an architecture of a rule-oriented repository supporting the modeling and refinement process.

NewsCATS: A News Categorization and Trading System

NewsCATS is an automated text categorization (ATC) prototype using a hand-made thesaurus to forecast intraday stock price trends from information contained in press releases. Due to a unique labeling approach and by carefully selecting the appropriate training data NewsCATS achieves a performance which is clearly superior to other ATC prototypes used for stock price trend forecasting. In this paper we describe the architecture, training, and testing of NewsCATS as well as the results of an extensive robustness analysis.

Decision support models for composing and navigating through e-learning objects

Libraries of learning objects may serve as basis for deriving course offerings that are customized to the needs of different learning communities or even individuals. Several ways of organizing this course composition process are discussed. Course composition needs a clear understanding of the dependencies between the learning objects. Therefore we discuss the metadata for object relationships proposed in different standardization projects and especially those suggested in the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative. Based on these metadata we construct adjacency matrices and graphs. We show how Gozinto-type computations can be used to determine direct and indirect prerequisites for certain learning objects. The metadata may also be used to define integer programming models which can be applied to support the instructor in formulating his specifications for selecting objects or which allow a computer agent to automatically select learning objects. Such decision models could also be helpful for a learner navigating through a library of learning objects. We also sketch a graph-based procedure for manual or automatic sequencing of the learning objects.

Business Models for Content Delivery: An Empirical Analysis of the Newspaper and Magazine Industry

Although there have been efforts to define, describe, and classify business models, current literature does not provide a structured method of comparing business models between companies within or between industries. This article outlines a conceptual business model and proposes 5 components that a business model for content delivery should include: the product, the consumer, the revenue, the price, and the delivery. By using the newspaper and magazine industry as an example, we empirically test the impact of these 5 components on profit. Furthermore, we address 2 key issues content providers are confronted with when selling digital content: First, how much of the digital content is available free or at cost, and second, is the digital product as complementary or a substitute to the physical product. Finally, we assess the risk of cannibalizing the physical product with the digital one by a multiple regression analysis.

Application Service Providing (ASP)

The innovative operator model for traffic control centers siemens.com /mobility

Security in Health Information Systems: An Exploratory Comparison of U.S. and Swiss Hospitals

Various reports of information security breaches [1, 2], unintended information disclosures of confidential patient information, and computer attacks have raised the awareness about security issues of health information systems (HIS). This paper explores the interrelation between the use of information systems and information system security in the hospital sector of the Health Industry. It analyzes organizational, regulatory, and technological factors as well as difficulties inherent to health care organizations such as patient safety concerns and the use of these systems by clinicians who rely on timely and correct clinical information about their patients. Technical and organizational security capabilities are discussed with reference to case studies of two academic medical centers and two hospital groups in the United States and Switzerland. It is shown how the practicability of information security controls is limited by the heterogeneous and decentralized nature of HIS and the way in which clinicians use them.

A Widely Acclaimed Method of Load-Oriented Job Release and its Conceptual Deficiencies

In the last decade, a heuristic method of load-oriented job release, commonly referred to as “Belastungsorientierte Auftragsfreigabe” (BORA), has been developed (cf. e.g. (4); (53)) and very successfully promoted throughout industry. Several standalone software packages with BORA-implementations appeared in the market and BORA-modules have been added to widely used MRP II-systems like COPICS, RM-PPS, PSK2000 and INTEPS (cf. (14), p.24; (59), p. 259). The main goals pursued in connection with BORA are: Reduction of lead time and lead time variability by reducing work-in-process Reduction of inventory to reduce holding cost Reduction of lot sizes to smooth production flow, to prevent unpredictable machine idleness, and to avoid changing bottlenecks in the manufacturing system.

Modelle zur Unterstützung von Outsourcing-Entscheidungen

Entscheidungen, ob Aufgaben der Informationsversorgung (IS-Aufgaben) nach ausen vergeben werden sollen, sind je nach Bedeutung dieser Aufgaben von der Unternehmensleitung oder dem IS-Management zu treffen. Die Betriebswirtschaftslehre hat bisher wenig dazu beigetragen, die damit verbundenen EntScheidungsprozesse zu unterstutzen. Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden mogliche Formen der Entscheidungsunterstutzung untersucht und im Hinblick auf ihre Eignung bewertet. Dabei scheinen insbesondere auf einer Argumentenbilanz aufbauende Nutzwertanalysen sowie quadratische Zuordnungsmodelle geeignet, den komplexen Entscheidungsprozes zu unterstutzen.

A Morphological Box for Handling Temporal Data in B2C Systems

User interfaces are key properties of Business-to-Consumer (B2C) systems, and Web-based reservation systems are an important class of B2C systems. In this paper we show that these systems use a surprisingly broad spectrum of different approaches to handling temporal data in their Web inter faces. Based on these observations and on a literature analysis we develop a Morphological Box to present the main options for handling temporal data and give examples. The results indicate that the present state of developing and maintaining B2C systems has not been much influenced by modern Web Engi neering concepts and that there is considerable potential for improvement.

Cybermediaries Supporting the Management of Independent Workers: A Case Study of Extended Outsourcing Relationships

Outsourcing of human resource management tasks has a comparatively long tradition. This paper discusses the influences of the Internet on the value chain in managing independent workers (“freelancers”) in the IT area. A case study is presented and the influence of new, web-based intermediaries on restructuring the value chain is exemplified. The case demonstrates the shift of power from traditional to new service providers.