Stefanie Kethers

Filling HTML forms simultaneously: CoWeb—architecture and functionality

Abstract CoWeb is a system to support simultaneous work in the World Wide Web. CoWeb enables two or more users at remote locations to work with the same HTML document. For example, input fields can be filled collaboratively, and pointers and stretching rectangles can be used to highlight particular parts of images. An additional chatting channel can be used to talk about the document. CoWeb transforms the individual elements of the HTML language into Java applets, so that any existing HTML document can be used via CoWeb. All additional functionality for simultaneous cooperation is integrated through applets, i.e. by reading WWW documents. Thus, no modification of the document, the server or the WWW client is necessary — as long as the latter is Java-compatible.

Continuous requirements management for organisation networks: a (dis)trust-based approach

Recently, viewpoint resolution methods which make conflicts productive for requirements engineering have gained popularity in organisational information systems. However, when extending such methods beyond organisational boundaries to inter-organisational social networks, sociological research indicates that a delicate balance of trust in individuals, confidence in the network as a whole, and watchful distrust becomes a key success factor. We capture these relationships in the so-called TCD (Trust–Confidence–Distrust) approach and demonstrate how this approach can be supported by a dynamic requirements engineering environment that combines the structural analysis of strategic dependencies and rationales, with the interaction between planning, tracing, and communicative action. An example drawn from an ongoing case study in entrepreneurship networks illustrates our approach, complemented by a brief sketch of a prototypical implementation of a simulation environment based on our methodology.

Requirements modeling for organization networks: a (dis)trust-based approach

Recently, viewpoint resolution methods which make conflicts productive have gained popularity in requirements engineering for organizational information systems. However, when extending such methods beyond organizational boundaries to social networks, sociological research indicates that a delicate balance of trust in individuals, confidence in the network as a whole, and watchful distrust becomes a key success factor. We capture these relationships in the so-called TCD (Trust-Confidence-Distrust) approach and demonstrate how this approach can be supported by a dynamic requirements engineering environment that combines the structural analysis of strategic dependencies and rationales, with the interaction between planning, tracing, and communicative action. An example drawn from an ongoing case study in entrepreneurship networks illustrates our approach.

Regionale Kooperationskompetenz: Probleme und Modellierungstechniken

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can balance globalization efforts by participating in regional cooperation networks. As SMEs often have no or little experience with cooperation, they need to develop and maintain cooperation knowledge. From experiences in the German AdCo project, we derive a network of dependencies between problems occurring in regional cooperations, their causes, and possible countermeasures. In addition, we describe a combination of interrelated modelling methods which aid in analyzing cooperation processes with respect to strategic dependencies, service quality, and implications for the individual workplaces. Kernpunkte fur das Management: Theoretische Uberlegungen und praktische Erfahrungen zeigen, das regionale Kooperationen fur kleine und mittlere Unternehmen (KMU) eine wichtige Komplementarstrategie zur Globalisierung bilden konnen. Kompetenz zur Kooperation mus jedoch aufgebaut und aufrechterhalten werden. Gerade in KMU-Kooperationen konnen sehr unterschiedliche Engpasse auftreten, so das Pauschallosungen wenig hilfreich sind. Aus Erfahrungen im BMBFProjekt AdCo leitet die Arbeit zwei wesentliche Ergebnisse ab: • ein Abhangigkeitsnetz, in dem fur typisch auftretende Probleme regionaler KMUKooperationen Ursachen und mogliche Abhilfen zusammengestellt werden. • eine Kombination miteinander verzahnter und relativ einfach anwendbarer wirtschaftsinformatischer Modellierungsmethoden, mit deren Hilfe in konkreten Situationen strategische Abhangigkeiten, Probleme der Servicequalitat und der Arbeitsbelastung analysiert werden konnen, die sich aus Kooperationen ergeben. Stichworte: Unternehmenskooperation, Prozesmodellierung, Unternehmensnetze, KMU