William L. Kuechler

Supporting optimization of business-to-business e-commerce relationships

Abstract Much current e-commerce subscribes to very simple interaction models. Many of the potentialities of e-commerce are identical to those that have been under study for some time in the field of automated workflow management systems. In this paper, we describe a new workflow interoperability model, the monitored–nested model (MNM), and show that it can support optimized, extended e-commerce transactions that are not supported by current models. Like other interoperability models, MNM is dependent on process activities, and thus is brittle under real-world conditions of process evolution. This is overcome by augmenting the model with goal-based meta-data and the use of a coordination inferencing algorithm.

So, talk to me: the effect of explicit goals on the comprehension of business process narratives

Unstructured data, most of it text-based and computer- mediated, makes up a rapidly growing majority of the knowledge store of most organizations. Entire classes of information systems-knowledge management systems and enterprise content management systems-have emerged to monitor, manage, and support decision making from this primarily textual data. IS research has treated text as a unitary variable. However, research from cognitive science strongly suggests that a deeper investigation of how text is comprehended would allow the development of more effective computer-based knowledge and communications systems. Our research extends IS research on the effects of information presentation on decision making by investigating the attributes of text rather than comparing text to other information presentation modes such as graphs or numbers. Our study also contributes to the sparse empirical IS research on problem formulation, the initial phase of decision making. Informed by research on information presentation, decision making, and narrative comprehension, we designed a series of experiments that demonstrate that the explicit inclusion of goal information for activities in narrative descriptions of problematic business processes increases overall comprehension, decision-making confidence, and short and long term recall. Based on our experimental findings we propose that augmenting text-based IS to elicit and saliently present explicit goal information would significantly enhance the decision support capability of these systems especially for rapid, ad hoc decisions about business process situations.

DIGITAL SIGNATURES: A BUSINESS VIEW

Abstract The technology to create secure digital signatures is proven and workable on PC-level hardware, as well as on mainframes. the issues currently restraining widespread use of digital signatures are primarily legal. This tutorial survey first identifies the functions a digital signature should ideally perform by tracing an example Internet-based electronic business transaction. After an overview of the technology that provides the required functionality, this article presents the current legal status of digital signature use, including a number of unresolved liability issues, and summarizes some precautions for digital signature use.

Is it Time for an it Ethics Program

Abstract Once thought of as a value-neutral service function, IT is being recognized as a department that is involved in a variety of ethical questions. These ethical questions can be recognized and dealt with on an explicit basis, but most often the decisions are unrecognized or decided by a small group of people who may lack the training and authority to deal with the issues properly. We suggest that IT units pay attention to ethical issues and create a structure for identifying and dealing with them.

Methodology Mashups: An Exploration of Processes Used to Maintain Software

The majority of studies of software development processes explore initial development rather than ongoing software maintenance, yet the majority of the systems development budget in many organizations is devoted to maintenance. Software maintenance projects differ significantly from original development projects, indicating a need for more research specifically concerning maintenance processes. This study uses a grounded theory research method to explore how information technology professionals define and select a methodology to maintain existing software. We found that in-use maintenance methodologies are composed of components from multiple formal methodologies. We developed a factor model describing how these components are chosen. The findings contribute to a better understanding of how standard methodologies are applied in software practice and the critical factors used by professionals when choosing an appropriate methodology for software maintenance activities. This research underscores the need for incorporating the full software life cycle in information systems development research and education.

Soft trigger modeling: a technique for incorporating intentionality into workflow specifications

Soft trigger modeling (STM) is both a process model and a knowledge explication method by which workflow management systems (WFMS) are reconceptualized from state- or event-based to knowledge-based. When multiple WFMS controlled by autonomous workgroups must interoperate, the utility of event-based WFMS models is limited, since unilateral changes in tasks frequently disrupt coordination between processes. Common business situations exhibiting the problem are outsourcing and virtual corporations. Conventional trigger modeling defines triggers in terms of fixed, predetermined events. STM extends trigger modeling by incorporating common domain knowledge and the intentionality of workgroups into the workflow specification, providing some ability for automated compensation for dynamic changes in task definition. In prior work the authors have set out the mechanisms by which trigger-based coordination can be automatically maintained following process modification, and the applicability of the Smart Object Model, a logic-object hybrid, for modeling WFMS. The foci of the paper are the knowledge elements of the process model, and an analysis method that populates the model.

Dealing with Data Privacy Protection: An Issue for the 21st Century

Abstract In many surveys, Americans identify inroads into their privacy as being of primary concern. Nonetheless, newer electronic technologies — such as biometric monitoring, Web site tracking, vehicle tracking, basket-level purchase tracking, charge card usage recording, personal information database sales, release of government data to private corporations, facial identification, DNA testing and record keeping, smart card usage, telephone records, e-mail monitoring, and the like — intrude themselves into our private lives on an ever-expanding basis. It seems every company and every governmental agency has an interest in knowing what we do, what we like and dislike, what we read, how long we sustain interest in something, which stores we frequent, and what we ignore. The European Union (EU) and other countries outside the EU are taking an approach to privacy that companies with an international presence need to address to maintain compliance with that approach.

Digital Signatures: A Business View

Abstract Electronic commerce has been carried out successfully for years without the use of digital signatures (DSs). Hundreds of billions of dollars of commercial transactions are quite adequately handled each year using the 30+-year-old technologies of electronic data interchange (EDI), electronic funds transfer (EFT), and semiprivate communications links called value-added networks (VANs). Why, then, over the past few years have digital signatures been increasingly seen as necessary to digital commerce? And why have digital signatures had such a high profile in the trade press and even the popular press?