Lene Tolstrup Sørensen

Using soft OR in a small company--The case of Kirby

High demands are placed on traditional small companies to make technological adaptations and push forward global digital markets. For small companies, this is not a simple task: they lack knowledge about the technology options and on strategic management of information technology (IT). This paper discusses the practical experiences of applying soft OR methodologies to a small company facing this complex situation. Applications of SWOT analysis and the strategic choice approach were made in the company for evaluation of such methodological support to a small companys learning process. It is concluded that soft OR can be an important factor for developing IT strategic management in small companies. � 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.

User managed trust in social networking - Comparing Facebook, MySpace and Linkedin

Social Networks is the highest growing web-application in terms of users. Different surveys show that users are most concerned with their privacy in respect to web-based social networks. Anyhow, uses “compete” in the number of “friends” they can attach to their own profile. This means that the trust relations users are using to establish friends in the web applications becomes significantly different from the trust relations used in face-to-face meetings. This paper compares and discusses some of the existing self-management mechanisms in trust in three of the most used internet based social networking applications and suggests different aspects for dealing with trust from a user-centric design perspective.

Next generation social networks - elicitation of user requirements

When it comes to discussing the future of electronic communication, social networking is the buzzword. The Internet has become a platform where new social networks emerge and the Internet it itself support the more traditional computer supported communication. The way users build and verifies different online networks for communities of people who share interests or individuals who presents themselves through user produced content is what makes up the social networking of today. The purpose of this paper is to discuss perceived user requirements to the next generation social networks. The paper is based on a survey of users working within the ICT field as well as user requirement categorizations developed within the WWRF.

Generating ideas for new mobile tv services: accepting and socializing mobile television

Mobile TV is still in its infancy in respect to identifying new services/content, which deploy the technology convergence of broadcasting, Internet and radio while satisfying the user with respect to interactivity, sociability and content, and at the same time fit the small screen of a mobile phone. This paper reports on a semi-field trial performed with a group of young, IT literate users provided with handheld devices and the possibility of watching mobile TV as a basis for creation of ideas for more advanced services. The results shows that this group of users looks for personalized services and content, which have a high sociability factor.

Soft methods in primary schools: Focusing on IT strategies

New legislation has been imposed on Danish primary schools to increase the use of information technology (IT), without giving guidelines on practical implementation. Many schools are, therefore, left in despair. We suggest that IT strategy development can be supported by soft OR methods. We present three case studies that illustrate different application perspectives of methods.

Social Media Utilization for the Service Innovation: Case Study of Danish Companies

This article describes how more and more enterprises are represented on online social networks. A significant number of these enterprises are uncertain to why they are present on the social technologies, while others have a clear strategy. These strategies include getting closer to the customers for new innovation and service creation. This article looks into how innovation takes place for enterprises using Facebook as their channel for starting service innovation in the meetings between the enterprise and the customer as part of their strategy to getting closer to the customers. The article takes a theoretical look on service innovation in the ICT service encounter, where the ICT relation is based on social media. Two Danish cases are presented (a bank and a mobile service provider) focusing on their use of Facebook in their ideation and innovation processes. Interviews and monitoring of Facebook activities are used as data sources to understand the ideation and innovation processes of the cases.

Applying the Kanban method in problem-based project work: a case study in a manufacturing engineering bachelor’s programme at Aalborg University Copenhagen

ABSTRACT Problem-based learning (PBL) has proven to be highly effective for educating students in an active and self-motivated manner in various disciplines. Student projects carried out following PBL principles are very dynamic and carry a high level of uncertainty, both conditions under which agile project management approaches are assumed to be highly supportive. The paper describes an empirical case study carried out at Aalborg University Copenhagen involving students from two different semesters of a Bachelor of Science programme. While executing the study, compelling examples of how PBL and the agile project management method Kanban blend could be identified. A final survey reveals that applying Kanban produces noticeable improvements with respect to creating, assigning and coordinating project tasks. Other improvements were found in group communication, knowledge about the work progress with regards to both the individual and the collective and the students’ way of continuously improving their own teamwork.

Users, Pilot Services and Market

Working within the overall purpose of MAGNET/MAGNET Beyond one of the specific challenges that is elaborated on in this chapter has been to represent and include a direct and clear user centred focus. The user centricity was firmly agreed to be ever present both in the development process in the focus areas of the project and as direct involvement of users at different stages in the systems development process. The basic idea has been to identify and build up relevant user requirements as the basis for formulation of systems requirements.

René Victor Valqui Vidal: creative and participative problem solving—the art and the science: http://www2.imm.dtu.dk/∼vvv/CPPS/index.htm

communication structures or IT strategies, the task or problem faced is often characterised by being multi-disciplinary, unambiguously defined and with changing values over time. Every time you meet a problem like that there is a need for creating new and creative solutions to find solutions which are unique and that fit to the specialised circumstances characterising each situation. Today it is well recognised that solutions within organisations, teams, groups and even across organisations have a better chance of being implemented successfully if the solutions are based on participative problem solving. The participation of involved stakeholders is however a challenge since this demands a common understanding of the problem and the direction in which solutions are sought. Creativity and shared (democratic) decision making can in some situations become scarce resources. The book ‘‘Creative and participative problem solving—the art and the science’’, written by René Victor Valqui Vidal introduces the reader to the specific elements of modern, participative problem solving. The elements focus, in particular, on supporting the problem solving with methodological approaches and guidelines mixed from creativity and systemic problem solving. In this book, problem solving is seen as a social intervention in which different stakeholders of an organization (in a broad meaning) is conditioned by external and internal factors that surrounds problems or messes that have to be solved. The book advocates that such problems need to be solved with the involvement of a facilitator who can support a creative problem solving process that actually takes place.

MOBILE PROBING KIT: User centered development of personal networks services and applications

Mobile Probing Kit is a low tech and low cost methodology for obtaining inspiration and insights into user needs, requirements and ideas in the early phases of a systems development process. The methodology is developed to identify user needs, requirements and ideas among knowledge workers characterized as being highly nomadic and thus potential users of mobile and ubiquitous technologies. The methodology has been applied in the 1ST MAGNET Beyond project in order to obtain user needs and requirements in the process of developing pilot services. We report on the initial findings from applying this methodology in the early phases of this large scale research and development process.