2006
Martin, S. (2006)
Information Systems Development Projects: The Impact of A Project's Dimensions on Its Proneness to Failure
In: Doctoral Seminar on the Changing Nature of IT Project Management; Institute For Information Systems, Goethe University, Frankfurt
Category: Working papers
Reference No.: 2006-568
Beimborn, D.; Franke, J.; Wagner, H.; Weitzel, T. (2006)
The Impact of Outsourcing on IT Business Alignment and IT Flexibility: A Survey in the German Banking Industry
In: 12th Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS 2006); Acapulco, Mexico
Category: Proceedings
AbstractThe ability to outsource IT has been suggested as a major driver of IT productivity. At the same time, the literature on the business value of IT suggests that IT business alignment and IT flexibility are important drivers for the performance of IT. But what is, then, the impact of outsourcing on these key value drivers? In this paper, we empirically show that firms with internal IT exhibit significantly better IT business alignment and IT flexibility.
Reference No.: 2006-532
Wüllenweber, K. (2006)
Risk Management in Business Process Outsourcing Arrangements
Category: Working papers
Reference No.: 2006-477
Prifling, M. (2006)
IT Projects and Traditional Management Tools
In: Doctoral Seminar; Frankfurt am Main
Category: Miscellaneous
Reference No.: 2006-464
Beimborn, D.; Franke, J.; Martin, S. (2006)
The e-Business Potential of Value Chain Crossing
In: WeB 2006 pre-ICIS Workshop on E-Business; Milwaukee
Category: Proceedings
AbstractThis paper provides exploratory findings of an empirical survey accompanied by a series of case studies that motivates research in e-Business largely neglected before, namely the lateral cooperation of firms from two different industries that interconnect their business processes by means of electronic integration. We refer to this as “value chain crossing” and explore – as exemplary application domain – the integration of financial processes in non-banks and financial service providers. We identified empirical evidence for a large potential of value chain crossing but also found substantial inhibitors for the adoption of this idea. Starting from those findings, we outline a research program to tackle this promising area of e-Business research in future.
Reference No.: 2006-443
Repp, N.; Berbner, R.; Heckmann, O.; Steinmetz, R. (2006)
A Cross-Layer Approach to Performance Monitoring of Web Services
In: Workshop on Emerging Web Services Technology (in conjunction with IEEE ECOWS 2006); Zürich
Category: Proceedings
Reference No.: 2006-419
Gellings, C. (2006)
Outsourcing Relationships: Designing 'Optimal' Contracts - A Principal-Agent-Theoretic Approach
In: Proceedings of the 12th Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS 2006); Acapulco, Mexico
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractInformation Systems literature emphasizes the importance of efficient contracts for managing outsourcing relationships. However, there is a lack of proven and tested contract designs in theory as well as in practice. With the help of Economic Theory we analyze the underlying dynamics of an outsourcing relationship. Based on mathematical Principal-Agent-Theory we aim at answering the following questions: (1) 'what are the characteristics of an 'optimal' outsourcing contract?' and (2) 'how can the Outsourcer contractually implement incentives for the Service Provider?'. Our theoretical findings stress that within an 'optimal' contract the marginal utilities of both parties involved have to be proportional. For practical implications this means that an increase of the Service Provider's profit has to be accompanied by a decrease in the Outsourcer's costs. To accomplish this we show how incentives can contractually be implemented as suggested by Principal-Agent-Theory. We test our findings based on a single case study research.
Reference No.: 2006-417
Steinmetz, R. (2006)
Peer-to-Peer Systems and Applications
In: Springer; Berlin
Category: Book
Reference No.: 2006-319
Heckmann, O. (2006)
The Competitive Internet Service Provider
In: Wiley & Sons
Category: Book
Reference No.: 2006-316
Heckmann, O. (2006)
Efficiency and Quality of Service of IP Networks
In: it - Information Technology Journal 3 (06): 177-180
Category: Publications in scientific journals
Reference No.: 2006-315
Darlagiannis, V.; Mauthe, A.; Steinmetz, R. (2006)
Sampling Cluster Endurance for Peer-to-Peer based Content Distribution Networks
In: Mutlimedia Computing and Networking (MMCM 2006); San Jose, USA
Category: Proceedings
Reference No.: 2006-313
Franke, J.; König, W.; Weitzel, T. (2006)
Industrialisierung von Finanzprozessen: Herausforderungen, Chancen, Vorgehensmodell
In: Zeitschrift für Controlling & Management (ZfCM)
Category: Publications in journals
Reference No.: 2006-312
Beimborn, D.; Franke, J.; Gomber, P.; Wagner, H.; Weitzel, T. (2006)
Die Bedeutung des Alignments von IT und Fachressourcen in Finanzprozessen: Eine empirische Untersuchung
In: WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 48 (5) , S. 331-339
Category: Publications in scientific journals [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractWie kann die Ressource IT wertschaffend eingesetzt werden? Auf der theoretischen Grundlage des Resource-based View of IT sowie der Alignment-Literatur argumentieren wir, dass die tatsächliche Nutzung der IT sowie das Zusammenspiel zwischen IT und Fachabteilungen grundlegend für die Leistung von IT-intensiven Geschäftsprozessen sind. Das entwickelte Wirkmodell wird in einer Studie unter den 1.000 größten Banken Deutschlands empirisch untersucht.
Es zeigt sich, dass die Leistung des untersuchten Geschäftsprozesses, wie hypothetisiert, stark von einem Alignment zwischen der IT- und der Geschäftsdomäne abhängt. Ebenso wird deutlich, dass ein bestimmtes Ausmaß fachlicher Ressourcen entscheidend ist und auch eine herausragende IT-Ausstattung und -Unterstützung keine Mängel hinsichtlich dieser fachlichen Ressourcen ausgleichen kann. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen damit wichtige Einsichten der Literatur zu Alignment auch auf Prozessebene und zeigen im Gegensatz zu bestehender Literatur theoretisch wie empirisch, dass der Wertbeitrag der IT nicht ohne Berücksichtigung der Nicht-IT-Fachkompetenz untersucht werden kann.
Reference No.: 2006-302
Gellings, C.; Wüllenweber, K. (2006)
The Impact of Contract Design on Outsourcing Success: Case Studies on Risk Mitigation Measures
In: Proceedings of the 12th Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS 2006); Acapulco, Mexico
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractFrom the outsourcer’s perspective, the outsourcing literature emphasizes the importance of contracts and risk awareness for managing outsourcing ventures. However, there is a lack of theoretical foundation with regard to the importance of risk and contract design towards outsourcing success. By extending the risk model of Bahli and Rivard (2001) we aim at answering the following questions: (1) ‘how does the design of the outsourcing contract impact on outsourcing risk?’ and (2) ‘how, in turn, does outsourcing risk affect outsourcing success?’. Based on multiple case studies of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) arrangements, our results show that the ‘complementarity’ of contract clauses — Service Level Agreements, Penalty-Reward-Systems, and Pricing — is important to contractually implement risk mitigation. Furthermore, by synchronizing the objectives of the in- and outsourcer ex ante resulting in specific contract clauses which compensate for losses ex post, the existence of risk and its impact on outsourcing success can be limited.
Reference No.: 2006-299
Berbner, R.; Spahn, M.; Repp, N.; Heckmann, O.; Steinmetz, R. (2006)
Heuristics for QoS-aware Web Service Composition
In: 4th IEEE International Conference on Web Services (ICWS 2006); Chicago, USA
Category: Proceedings
AbstractThis paper discusses the Quality of Service (QoS)-aware composition of Web Services. The work is based on the assumption that for each task in a workflow a set of alternative Web Services with similar functionality is available and that these Web Services have different QoS parameters and costs. This leads to the general optimization problem of how to select Web Services for each task so that the overall QoS and cost requirements of the composition are satisfied.
Current proposals use exact algorithms or complex heuristics (e.g. genetic algorithms) to solve this problem. An actual implementation of a workflow engine (like our WSQoSX architecture), however, has to be able to solve these optimization problems in real-time and under heavy load. Therefore, we present a heuristic that performs extremely well while providing excellent (almost optimal) solutions. Using simulations, we show that in most cases our heuristic is able to calculate solutions that come as close as 99% to the optimal solution while taking less than 2% of the time of a standard exact algorithm. Further, we also investigate how much and under which circumstances the solution obtained by our heuristic can be further improved by other heuristics.
Reference No.: 2006-291
Franke, J.; Weitzel, T. (2006)
Strategisches Sourcing im KMU-Kreditgeschäft
In: Zeitschrift für das gesamte Kreditwesen; Fritz Knapp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main
Category: Publications in journals
Reference No.: 2006-289
Martin, S.; Blumenberg, S. (2006)
Connecting Credit Grantors and Credit Requestors: Towards the Electronic Exchange of Rating-Relevant Information
In: 10th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS 2006); Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Category: Proceedings
Reference No.: 2006-281
Wagner, H. (2006)
The role of alignment and IS usage for business process performance: An empirical survey among German banks
In: 10th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS); Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Category: Proceedings
AbstractThere is still a lack of coherent theoretical explanations for why and how IT Business alignment (ITBA) influences process outcomes. This study draws on the knowledge-based theory to develop and test a process-level model that links different types of alignment and IS usage to process outcomes.
While prior research has mostly focused on strategic alignment, we posit that the implementation of strategies into an operational process also is important to achieve beneficial outcomes. Therefore, we investigate the impact of ITBA on performance at a process-level of analysis. Additionally, we propose that business-internal alignment is an important construct contributing to the explanation of performance. Furthermore, we include IS usage and business skills to encompass further essential resources of the business process.
Testing the model using data from 136 banks shows that ITBA and business-internal alignment have direct and positive effects on performance at the process level. Furthermore, IS usage and business skills proved to have significant effects on process performance. Overall, the result contribute to the IT value creation debate by empirically showing the effect of alignment and IS usage on a process level and by revealing the role of business-internal alignment.
Reference No.: 2006-134
Gewald, H.; Wüllenweber, K.; Weitzel, T. (2006)
The Influence of Perceived Risks on Banking Managers' Intention to Outsource Business Processes - A Study of the German Banking and Finance Industry
In: Journal of Electronic Commerce Research (JECR); Volume 7, Number 2, pp. 78-96
Category: Publications in scientific journals [Find it]
AbstractInformation Technology (IT) is a key productive factor in the banking and finance
industry (BFI) as almost the entire production and delivery of services can
in principle be digitized. Driven by cost pressure and new competitors, outsourcing
IT together with the relevant business processes is a promising way to focus
on core competencies and to restructure the corporate value chain.
While there is a rich literature on the risks and benefits of IT outsourcing,
little is known about the next step of business process outsourcing
(BPO) and especially the associated risks. Our main hypothesis is that the perceived
risks associated with BPO strongly influence the intention of managers to outsource
business processes. Based on an empirical survey of BFI managers covering 90%
of the cumulated German BFI balance sheet, it is shown that
- perceived risk does indeed have a significant impact on managers' attitudes
towards BPO and that these attitudes strongly influence the outsourcing decision.
- Financial risks turn out to be a major risk facet, exerting pressure on
banks which decide solely in terms of potential cost savings.
- In addition, the high importance of performance risk requires banks to
invest in sophisticated vendor management.
Reference No.: 2006-124
Gewald, H.; Yetton, P. (2006)
Pre- and Post-Adopters' Perceptions of the Benefits of Business Process Outsourcing
In: Working Paper
Category: Miscellaneous
AbstractTechnology adoption theory explains individual attitudes towards IT-based innovations within an organization. Here, we extend that model to explain attitudes in the German banking industry towards business process outsourcing (BPO). The theoretical development includes a shift from an intra-organization, hierarchy-based influence model to an inter-organization, market-based model. A survey of 218 managers in 126 banks shows that attitudes towards BPO are a function of managers' experience of BPO. The implications for theory and practice are examined.
Reference No.: 2006-121
Franke, J.; Weitzel, T. (2006)
Business Process Outsourcing in the Financial Chain
In: The Finance Director, 12.April 2006; SPG Media Limited
Category: Publications in journals [Find it]
AbstractOnly 6.1% of CFOs of large firms are fully content with their financial chain. Still, financial chain outsourcing is quite rare. Tim Weitzel and Jochen Franke present empirical findings of a large survey with Germany’s top 1,000 firms on what CFOs think about their financial processes and financial chain outsourcing. Also, a CFO's personal experience with outsourcing turns out to be a firm internal cultural challenge for outsourcing.
Reference No.: 2006-120
Franke, J.; Gewald, H. (2006)
Does Experience Matter? Source of Outsourcing Experience and its Impact on Outsourcing Attitude - Empirical Evidence from the German Banking Industry
In: 12th Americas Conference on Information Systems; Acapulco, Mexico
Category: Proceedings
AbstractPrevious studies indicate that prior experience of the outsourcer has an impact on the actual outsourcing evaluation. However, the question where this experience derives from remains unanswered. In an empirical analysis with Germany's 200 largest banks it is empirically shown that the level of experience indeed has a significant impact on senior management's attitude towards outsourcing. Furthermore, the analysis of the data reveals that close personal contact with prior outsourcing projects has the highest impact on management's level of experience. Interestingly, no significant impact is observed for indirect sources like former outsourcing experiences within the firm (intra-corporate knowledge), communication with peers and colleagues or the consultation of related business literature and newspapers. This research adds to the understanding of the influential factors which form senior management's cognitive position towards outsourcing. It calls for outsourcing service providers to thoroughly investigate and anticipate the personal history of their negotiating partner. Hers or his level of hands-on outsourcing experience clearly dominates the attitude formation towards outsourcing.
Reference No.: 2006-115
Wagner, H.; Weitzel, T. (2006)
Operational IT Business Alignment as the Missing Link from IT Strategy to Firm Success
In: 12th Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS 2006) (nominated best paper); Acapulco, Mexico
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractStrategic alignment deals with the capability of IT to both shape and support business strategy. It can be interpreted as an organizational learning process that combines business and IT knowledge to support business objectives and can positively affect organizational profitability by creating superior strategies that achieve a competitive advantage. These strategies have to be implemented, because strategies are only effective when they are translated into actions readily. Therefore, in this paper we introduce the concept of operational IT business alignment, reflecting the functional integration at the structural level and representing the link between business and IT structure. Using structural equation modeling and data from 136 banks we show that operational IT business alignment positively impacts dynamic IT and business capabilities and in turn strategic alignment and firm performance.
Reference No.: 2006-114
Wagner, H.; Weitzel, T. (2006)
Social Interaction as Constituting Element of Routines: Incorporating Social Network Analysis into IS research
In: forthcoming in 12th Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS 2006); Acapulco, Mexico
Category: Proceedings
AbstractOrganizational routines known from the Resource-based View (RBV) are considered elementary for IT value creation as they determine the efficiency with which firms transform inputs to outputs.
As routines are socially complex patterns of inter-action, we incorporate findings from the literature on the Resource-based view and Social Network Analysis to disclose the social formation of organizational routines as a constituting element. Our model extends the central findings of the RBV by considering the impact of the social embeddedness of a firm’s employees using Granovetter’s strength of ties argument. The proposed model can be used for a sensitivity analysis regarding the impact of different interaction patterns between and among organizational units on business process performance. The model provides good support for the effects cited in the literature and is illustrated by a case.
Reference No.: 2006-113
Beimborn, D.; Franke, J.; Wagner, H.; Weitzel, T. (2006)
Strategy Matters – The Role of Strategy Type for IT Business Value
In: 12th Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS 2006); Acapulco, Mexico
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractThere is a general consensus among practitioners and researchers alike that IT business alignment improves business performance. Alignment mostly is researched at a strategic level, but has to be implemented in daily operations to be effective. Therefore, in this paper we introduce the concept of operational IT business alignment, reflecting the functional integration at the structural level and representing the linkage between business and IT structure. Using structural equation modeling and data from 136 banks we show that operational IT business alignment positively impacts IS usage and IT flexibility and in turn process performance. Furthermore it is shown that the effect of IT business alignment strongly depends on the type of business strategy a bank follows.
Reference No.: 2006-111
Berbner, R.; Spahn, M.; Repp, N.; Heckmann, O.; Steinmetz, R. (2006)
An Approach for Replanning of Web Service Workflows
In: Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS 2006); Acapulco, Mexico
Category: Proceedings
AbstractThe dynamic composition of Web Services to workflows at runtime is a major challenge in the emerging field of Service-oriented computing. At this, preferences and constraints defined by the user have to be considered, e.g. executing a workflow with the cheapest Web Services, but not exceeding a given execution time. Due to the volatile nature of the Web Service environment the actual runtime behavior of Web Services may deviate from the one estimated in the planning phase. Thus, replanning mechanisms are crucial for adapting a workflow to the real behavior ensuring that its execution remains feasible, valid and optimal subject to the preferences and constraints defined by the user. Replanning mechanisms have to perform in real-time not to create further delay to the workflow execution. Thus, in this paper, we introduce a heuristic based replanning mechanism.
Reference No.: 2006-110
Gellings, C.; Wüllenweber, K. (2006)
Successfully Implementing IT Outsourcing Strategy in German Banks: The Role of Contract Design and Risk Management
In: Proceedings of the 14th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2006); Göteborg, Sweden
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractFrom the outsourcer’s perspective, the IS outsourcing literature emphasizes the importance of contracts and risk awareness for managing outsourcing ventures. However, there is a lack of proven and tested outsourcing management concepts in theory and practise incorporating contractual designs to effectively counter risk. By extending the risk model of Bahli and Rivard (2001) we investigate the influence of risk analysis on contract quality and their interrelation with outsourcing success. Using multiple case studies within the German banking industry our paper aims at answering the following questions: (1) ‘How does the contract contribute to outsourcing success from a risk mitigation perspective?’ and (2) ‘How does risk analysis affect the risk mitigation quality of the contract?’. Our research provides insights on how the conduction of a thorough risk analysis can improve contract quality. We show that involving business staff as well as IT staff in an outsourcing project helps to optimize contract clauses. In addition, we demonstrate how the design of contract contents such as pricing schemes, service level agreements, and penalty-reward-systems can ensure the expected cost savings and thereby contribute to outsourcing success
Reference No.: 2006-106
Beimborn, D.; Martin, S.; Blumenberg, S. (2006)
Exploring Potential IOS-supported Partnerships between Banks and SMEs
In: 12th Americas Conference on Information Systems; Acapulco, Mexico
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractThe partnership between banks and non-banks is one of the oldest and most common lateral business partnerships. While banks are looking for new markets and for cost efficient ways to implement new business models, SMEs presumably have considerable efficiency potentials within their financial processes. Some of these potentials could be realized by integrating functionality provided by banks within the financial processes of SMEs. What factors drive the attitude of SMEs toward adopting of new, integrated financial services provided by banks? Through a case study-based, exploratory research ap-proach, we identify four major factors that influence the attitude of SMEs toward adopting new integrated business functions offered by banks.
Reference No.: 2006-102
Gewald, H.; Yetton, P. (2006)
Differences in Benefit Perception According to Alternative Statuses of Business Process Outsourcing Adoption
In: Twelfth Americas Conference on Information Systems; Acapulco, Mexico
Category: Proceedings
AbstractTechnology adoption theories propose that experience plays a major role in adopting or rejecting a new technology. This study analyses how the benefits of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) as a major technological innovation are perceived differently, according to the BPO adoption status of the corporation. A survey with Germany's 200 largest banks has been conducted (response rate: 36.8%) to gather information on senior management's benefit perceptions. The responses were segregated onto three groups, according to adoption status thus level of experience: Pre-adopters, adopters and non-adopters. All groups show distinctively different benefit perceptions. Cost savings for example are a benefit only seen by managers who not yet outsourced a business process. Experienced managers on the contrary see the major cost benefit in higher programmability of expenses. By applying technology adoption theories, this paper offers empirically grounded insights into senior management's benefit perceptions as an important antecedent of the actual outsourcing decision. This provides valuable contributions to theory and practice.
Reference No.: 2006-101
Franke, J.; Wüllenweber, K. (2006)
The Impact of Potential Flexibility Gains and Losses on the Intention to Outsource Business Processes
In: Proceedings of the 14th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS06); Göteborg, Sweden
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractIn an ever accelerating world demanding fast adjustment to changing business environments, organizational flexibility becomes increasingly important. By outsourcing business processes (BPO), there are both potential flexibility losses (e.g. loss of control) and potential flexibility gains (e.g. the transformation of fixed to variable costs). Firms have to balance this trade-off to retain sufficient flexibility or even enlarge their strategic and operational flexibility. Based on an empirical study with Germany’s Top 200 Banks it is shown that the perception of both flexibility gains and losses have a profound impact on the outsourcers’ attitude towards BPO. In particular, potential flexibility losses have a higher impact on outsourcers’ attitude than potential flexibility gains. Subsequently, in accordance with the theory of reasoned action it turns out that attitude is an antecedent of the intention towards outsourcing. Therefore we argue that flexibility-related issues should be explicitly considered in outsourcing evaluations and service providers should emphasize on contractual means to demonstrate that organizational flexibility will not be negatively affected.
Reference No.: 2006-99
Repp, N.; Berbner, R.; Perez, A.; Heckmann, O.; Steinmetz, R. (2006)
Die eigenhändige Unterschrift im Multichannel Banking
In: Thema Forschung, Technische Universität Darmstadt
Category: Other publications
AbstractThe article describes the application of digital handwritten signatures in multichannel banking scenarios. Digital handwritten signatures can be used for the integration of different channels in multichannel banking. The article discusses the use of this biometrical approach in an online banking scenario.
Reference No.: 2006-90
Gellings, C. (2006)
Contracts for Successful Outsourcing
In: Proceedings of the 17th Information Resources Management Association International Conference (IRMA 2006); Washington D.C. , USA
Category: Proceedings
AbstractOutsourcing literature emphasizes the importance of contracts and contract management for outsourcing success. In particular, contract quality has been stressed as a critical success fac-tor to attain expected benefits. But what constitutes an efficient contract from an outsourcer’s point of view? To find out, we address in our case study research, the following research ques-tion: How does the design of certain contract elements (such as general terms and conditions, pricing structures, and service level agreements) influence the realization of expected benefits? Our overall goal is to provide a contract framework that highlights elements worth focusing on during contract negotiations as they greatly influence success of the outsourcing deal. First re-sults indicate that (1) in- and outsourcers’ objectives can be matched (ex ante) with penalty and reward systems incorporated in a service level framework and that (2) liability clauses address-ing compensations for potential losses (ex post) are major contract issues. Furthermore, par-ticular deal characteristics are identified that indicate when variable pricing is superior to fixed pricing (and vice versa).
Reference No.: 2006-88
Son, S.; Gladyszewski, T.; Weitzel, T. (2006)
The Value of Management Control in IT Organizations
In: 14th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2006); Göteborg, Sweden
Category: Proceedings
Reference No.: 2006-72
Hinz, D. (2006)
IT Risks: Definitions and Challenges
In: Global Information Technology Management Association; Orlando, Florida
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractRisks and especially information technology (IT) risks are hotly debated today in practice, furthermore many theories have evolved around this term. And also in IT management and IT controlling perspectives on risk, especially security, emerged. Surprisingly no dominant definition has emerged yet and consequently not one single classification or structure for the various kinds of risk exists. This paper tries to give a more concise definition and shows that the management of IT risks is not just a current hype but is of the utmost importance, especially to avoid and mitigate the effects of high impact events. A research agenda to address this important topic is proposed at the end of the paper.
Reference No.: 2006-63
Gewald, H.; Lammers, M. (2006)
The Strategic Sourcing Decision - An Extension of the Classical Make or Buy Decision -
In: 7th Annual Global Information Technology Management Conference (GITMA); Orlando, Florida, USA
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
Reference No.: 2006-24
Son, S.; Weitzel, T.; König, W. (2006)
Examining the Value of Management Control in IT Organizations
In: Proceedings of the 17th Information Resources Management Association International Conference (IRMA 2006); Washington, D.C., USA
Category: Proceedings
Reference No.: 2006-18
Repp, N.; Berbner, R.; Lenz, J.; Kaplan, C.; Perez, A.; Heckmann, O.; Steinmetz, R. (2006)
Digitalisierte eigenhändige Unterschrift im Online-Banking
In: D-A-CH Security 2006; Düsseldorf
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractOnline-Banking stellt eine einfache Methode dar, seine Bankgeschäfte von zu Hause aus erledigen zu
können. Weitere Vorteile des Online-Bankings sind sowohl für Bankkunden als auch die anbietende
Bank selbst die niedrigen Transaktionskosten, die im Rahmen des Online-Bankings anfallen. Allerdings
sind in der letzten Zeit Online-Banking-Systeme wegen massiver Sicherheitsprobleme in Verruf
geraten. Gerade Systeme, die auf PIN und TAN basieren, weisen eine Reihe von Sicherheits- und Akzeptanzproblemen
auf.
Die Probleme im Online-Banking basieren zu einem nicht unerheblichen Anteil darauf, dass den Benutzern
im Internet ein ausgeprägtes Sicherheitsbewusstsein fehlt. PIN und TAN stellen abstrakte
Konstrukte zur Authentifizierung und Autorisierung dar, deren potentielles Missbrauchspotential den
Benutzern oftmals nicht bewusst ist. Dieser Beitrag beschreibt einen Ansatz, die eigenhändige Unterschrift
als Ergänzung oder Ersatz für Authentifizierung und Autorisierung im Online-Banking einzusetzen.
Das Leisten einer Unterschrift ist dem Benutzer als Form der Autorisierung und Erklärung des
Einverständnisses bekannt und die potentiellen Risiken bewusst. Weiterhin wird in diesem Beitrag ein
Prototyp vorgestellt, der den Einsatz der eigenhändigen Unterschrift im Online-Banking realisiert.
Teile der Arbeit entstanden mit Unterstützung des E-Finance Lab e.V., Frankfurt am Main
(http://www.efinancelab.de).
Reference No.: 2006-17
Son, S.; Weitzel, T.; Laurent, F. (2006)
Designing a process-oriented framework for IT performance management systems
In: The Electronic Journal Information Systems Evaluation, (EJISE), Vol. 8 , Issue 3, 219-228
Category: Publications in scientific journals
AbstractIn recent years, control and governance of internal services such as Information Technology (IT) have become quite critical in organisations due to the enormous size of their expenditure. As a result, managers have faced growing pressure to measure the performance of IT departments. Several concepts have been developed during the last few years such as IT governance, IT scorecards, and benchmarking that have been considered by IT and business execu-tives. But surprisingly, a recent study by the IT Governance Institute (ITGI) that covered 335 CEOs and CIOs in 21 countries, reported “while more than 91 percent of executives recog-nize that information technology (IT) is vital to the success of their businesses, more than two-thirds of CEOs are not comfortable answering questions about governance and control over their IT processes.” The study validates that the major problem continues to be “the inadequate view of how well IT is performing” (ITGI, 2004). Hence, decision-makers and stakeholders within private and public companies are insisting that IT executives provide hard facts on mission and IT performance. As such, a promising performance management system is required: setting performance targets, designing efficiency and effectiveness measure, systematically and accurately measuring outcomes, and then using the results for fact-based decision-making.
This paper shows, which concepts and frameworks currently exist to measure the performance of the IT department and its delivered IS services. We discuss how a performance management system might be designed and implemented with the purpose to monitor and improve the IT function within a major financial institution in Europe. Finally, this paper pro-vides lessons learned and some recommendations for further research in the area of IT performance management.
Reference No.: 2006-15
Weitzel, T.; Beimborn, D.; König, W. (2006)
A Unified Economic Model of Standard Diffusion: The Impact of Standardization Cost, Network Effects and Network Topology
In: Management Information Systems Quarterly (MISQ), Volume 30, Issue SPEC. ISS., 2006, pages 489-514
Category: Publications in scientific journals
AbstractThis paper is motivated by the following question: what drives the diffusion of a communication standard and what diffusion results can we expect? Past literature provides many instructive but mostly unrelated answers. Frequent findings are startup problems, penguin effects, and tendencies towards monopoly. But substantial problems in applying the models to concrete standardization problems reveal that the dynamics are probably more complex. Not all networks are ultimately conquered by a single standard once it has attracted a certain number of users. And not all diffusion results are either complete or no standardization.
We address the question of the conditions of particular diffusion behaviors by developing a formal standardization model that captures all fragmented phenomena in a unified approach. Drawing from findings of other research we incorporate the structure of the underlying user network as an important determinant for diffusion behaviors. The approach allows us to disclose varying conditions that generate frequently observed standardization behaviors as special parameter constellations of the model. Using equilibrium analysis and computer simulations we identify a standardization gap that reveals the magnitude of available standardization gains for individuals and the network as a whole. The analysis shows that network topology and density have a strong impact on standard diffusion and that the renowned tendency towards monopoly is far less common. We also report how the model can be used to decide on corporate standardization problems.
Reference No.: 2006-14
Weitzel, T. (2006)
Process governance and optimization for IT Reliant Business Processes: an empirical analysis of financial processes in Germany’s Fortune 1,000 non-banks
In: Proceedings of 39th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS39); Kauai, USA
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractWhat is the impact of process orientation, analysis and documentation on process quality? In this paper, using financial processes in non-banks (“financial chain”) as application domain an optimization framework for IT reliant business process is proposed and empirically evaluated. It is shown that a proper process orientation, documentation and process analysis is a necessary yet often neglected prerequisite for efficiency improvements. The framework can be used for preparing the business case for integration and outsourcing projects. Overall, the results empirically confirm the often neglected claim that you need to explicitly know and measure what you want to optimize.
Reference No.: 2006-13
Gewald, H.; Helbig, K. (2006)
A Governance Model for Managing Outsourcing Partnerships
In: 39th Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences; Kauai, Hawaii, USA
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractAn outsourcing engagement is usually a long lasting and complex transaction which bears a considerable amount of risk. A well recognized way to mitigate the risk arising from the shift of responsibilities between outsourcer and service provider is the constitution of a joint governance structure. Although the need for governance has long been acknowledged in practice and academia, papers discussing an actual governance model are scarce. This work describes the governance model as deployed by one of the largest outsourcing service providers worldwide. The fundamental need for governance principles and strategic directions are discussed, as well as the necessary organizational structures, joint processes and relationship management functions.
This paper offers insights into the practical answers to theoretically and empirically derived challenges and aims to foster discussions amongst scholars and practitioners on the important topic how to effectively govern an outsourcing relationship.
Reference No.: 2006-11
Wagner, H. (2006)
Managing the Impact of IT on Firm Success: The Link between the Resource-based View and the IT Infrastructure Library
In: Proceedings of the 39th Hawaiian Conference on System Sciences; Kaui, Hawaii, USA
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractHow to use IT to gain a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) is a key question in IS research. Different research strands of the resource based view (RBV) deal with this question. Another discipline en-gaged in IT is information management. Both ap-proaches provide valuable insights into the effective and efficient use of the IS resource but are rather in-dependent from one another. On the side of informa-tion management broadly accepted best practice frameworks like the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) evolved but lacking theoretical grounding, regarding RBV lots of valuable findings regarding the deploy-ment of IT for gaining and sustaining a competitive advantage arised but lacking of concrete practical linkage.
This paper aims to link both approaches in order to make the RBV more applicable to practical prob-lems and to inject theoretical grounding into a best practice framework thereby enhancing the value for managers.
It is shown that ITIL can be theoretically based on the notion of a capability and be employed in order to gain complementary effects between resources push-ing forward positive effects of IT deployment by en-hanced IT usage.
Reference No.: 2006-10
Beimborn, D.; Weitzel, T. (2006)
Game Theoretical Analysis of Cooperative Sourcing Scenarios
In: Proceedings of the 39th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences; Kauai, USA
Category: Proceedings [Find it]
AbstractA possible trend in outsourcing, cooperative sourcing is the merging of similar processes by several firms. For example, several banks could merge their payments proc-esses and the underlying IT to jointly realize economies of scale. But what are conditions of stable outsourcing coali-tions? And how to allocate costs within the outsourcing value web?
In this paper we present a micro economic model for analyzing cooperative sourcing decisions. Using a game-theoretical equilibrium analysis, distribution rules of co-operative sourcing benefits are evaluated and necessary condition for stable sourcing cooperations are identified. We formally prove that only a proportional allocation of costs will regularly lead to stable coalitions. Still, a game theoretic experiment indicates that deciders not knowing about the results are more likely to choose inefficient allo-cations leading to instable sourcing networks.
Reference No.: 2006-9
Beimborn, D. (2006)
A Model for Simulation Analyses of Cooperative Business Sourcing in the Banking Industry
In: 39th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences; Kauai
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractWhat will be efficient sourcing constellations in the competitive banking market which force banks to op-timize their processes and to change organizational structures?
This paper presents a model for investigating causes and effects of Cooperative Sourcing in the banking industry. Cooperative Sourcing means merging of similar processes by several firms, such as several banks merge their credit handling as well as the underlying IT, to achieve economies of scale. The model is able to capture these IS-based factors and to analyze the efficiency of sourcing decisions and rsulting market constellations.Due to the complexity of the involved factors, a simulation approach is used for applying the model. Fed with appropriate data the model could support BPO decisions based on analyti-cal analyses as well as on simulation-based compound investigations.
Reference No.: 2006-8
Wagner, H.; Beimborn, D.; Franke, J.; Weitzel, T. (2006)
IT Business Alignment and IT Usage in Operational Processes: A Retail Banking Case
In: Proceedings of the 39th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences; Kauai, USA
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractWhat is the impact of operational (i.e. non-strategic) IT business alignment on IT usage? Using case studies in three branches of a retail bank employing identical information systems, many findings of the alignment literature can be supported. The cases also add new insights by showing that alignment is important in operations as well, and that alignment positively impacts IT usage. Especially mutual understanding between the business units and the IT unit turned out to be the single most important factor of IT usage that resulted from frequent interaction and, as far as the IT unit is concerned, from the business orientation of the IT personnel.
Reference No.: 2006-7
Hinz, D. (2006)
Software Risk Mitigation through Web Services
In: 2006 IRMA International Conference; Washington
Category: Proceedings
AbstractWeb services are praised by research and practitioners as a powerful device to integrate business processes even across firm boundaries. But sometimes even apparently simple operations are not ideally suited to be implemented by web services. This paper employs a case example to explain potential business factors that can restrain web services from unfolding their full potential. Based on a simple causal model for software risk this paper then analyzes why web services should be preferably employed even in untypical usage scenarios to capture additional benefits from improved software risk mitigation.
Reference No.: 2006-6
Hinz, D.; Gewald, H. (2006)
The Next Wave in IT Infrastructure Risk Management - A Causal Modeling Approach with Bayesian Belief Networks
In: 2006 IRMA International Conference; Washington
Category: Proceedings
AbstractThe management of risks associated with information technology (IT) infrastructure becomes increasingly important, as companies may face severe negative outcomes in case of failures. This paper proposes a new approach to manage IT infrastructure risks even in highly dynamic environments. Currently, IT infrastructure and its risks are managed based on historical loss data, which allows very precise forecasts for potential risks in stable environments. However, for the increasing number of firms facing dynamic environments like outsourcing or merger scenarios, historical data is not an adequate estimator for future events. Therefore, the next wave in IT infrastructure risk management has to employ more adaptive strate-gies. Based on an ongoing case study with two leading IT consultancies and an international service enterprise, this paper demonstrates, how causal modeling with Bayesian Belief Networks enables the prediction and, most important, the proactive management of IT infrastructure risks.
Reference No.: 2006-5
Hinz, D.; Malinowski, J. (2006)
Assessing the Risks of IT Infrastructure – A Personal Network Perspective
In: 39th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences; Hawaii
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractThis paper adds the aspect of problem solving in personal networks to an existing risk assessment model of end-user computing technology. Due to various reasons, information technology (IT) risk assessment for end-user computing systems like desktop computers is gaining importance, especially the availability of these systems. Users are a vital part of these systems, and any user incident renders the system unavailable until the incident is resolved. Classical approaches only consider measurable user incidents. However, this neglects the fact, that a lot of problem solving takes place in unofficial personal networks. Based on expert interviews, we present an approach that integrates personal network characteristics into a causal model for risk assessment and give an outlook to further research.
Reference No.: 2006-4
Blumenberg, S.; Hinz, D. (2006)
Enhancing the Prognostic Power of IT Balanced Scorecards (Best Paper Nomination)
In: 39th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences; Hawaii
Category: Proceedings [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author)
AbstractBalanced Scorecard (BSC) is one of the most important and widely adopted performance measurement methods, and especially its recently evolving usage for IT governance makes it an attractive tool to measure and evaluate IT contribution to firm performance. Integral parts are corporate causality relationships that are modeled within the BSC. Surprisingly, these causalities within the Balanced Scorecard approach are neither thoroughly introduced in theory nor applied in practice in a sound way. In this paper, an integrated approach is developed which addresses both challenges. It is shown how causal modeling employing Bayesian Belief Networks can be used to improve Balanced Scorecard methodology and to support organizations in introducing a Balanced Scorecard. The integration allows for an a priori validation of causalities with significantly reduced effort in validity maintenance and results in better prediction of value chain figures and enhanced corporate learning.
Reference No.: 2006-3
König, W.; Wigand, R.; Beck, R. (2006)
Germany: A "fast follower" of e-commerce technologies and practices
In: Global E-Commerce: Impacts of National Environment and Policy; Kenneth Kraemer, Jason Dedrick and Nigel Melville (eds.), Cambridge University Press; Cambridge, UK
Category: Chapter in book [Password Protected Download] (Please contact the author) [Find it]
AbstractGlobal E-Commerce: Impacts of National Environment and Policy
The new millennium coincided with an explosion in the use of the Internet for commercial purposes. Dot com companies in the U.S. such as Amazon and eBay led the way, creating new online services where none had existed before. Recognizing the value of ecommerce, traditional companies also jumped online, including Wal-Mart in retail, Cisco in networking, Dell in the PC industry, and Charles Schwab in banking. In just a few short years, a company without a web site was considered passé and the Internet was becoming mythologized: “a few years from now business economists may include the Internet in the Schumpeterian Hall of Fame, as an economic innovation of the same magnitude as the steam engine and the assembly lines of yore” (DePrince Jr. & Ford, 1999). Radical changes toward online business models were widely believed to be ushering in a “new economy” requiring new competitive strategies, business models, and even a new economics. Given the major role played by the U.S. in developing the Internet and fostering its commercialization, other nations voiced concern that it would dominate e-commerce, spreading American culture and economic influence via electronic networks. The Internet compresses time and space, making it easier for companies to expand beyond regional boundaries. Commerce emerges as a powerful force beyond the control of individual countries, with a corollary being that the relevance of differences between countries diminishes. Taking this argument to the extreme, some predicted the emergence of a borderless global economy. In his treatise on strategies for the new economy, Kenichi Ohmae (2001, pp. 5) argues that “the idea of Japan or America as economic aggressor is simply a ‘cartographic illusion’ – a misperception derived from the false idea that national borders represent lines of true political autonomy.” Powerful global production networks and the rise of offshore outsourcing would appear to be consistent with this view of a borderless global economy. The Internet may indeed be driving a shift toward a global marketplace, with significant ramifications for supply chains, business processes, customer service, and the basis of competition. In times of rapid change, historical perspective is lacking. What is reality and what is hype? And how can we systematically distinguish between the two? Anecdotes and case studies have been the primary means of examining the impact of the Internet on societies, markets, and economies, painting detailed portraits of particular organizations and events. Exposing rich phenomena in context helps understand the “how” and “why” of e-commerce. However, their application to other contexts is limited. What happens in one country or region may not happen in another. The impact of back-office e-commerce operations may be different than customerfacing websites. Processes particular to one industry such as finance differ from those in others such as manufacturing. This leads to differences in how the Internet and e-commerce are applied, resulting in varying performance impacts. A systematic analysis of the impact of the Internet and e-commerce across firms, industries, and economies is necessary to separate hype from reality. We focus on understanding the topographical patterns of e-commerce across diverse economies and industries in order to assess the evolution of e-commerce (transformational versus incremental change), the extent of U.S. hegemony, and the extent to which globalization diminishes the power of nations, shapes local economies, and re-aligns national cultures. This book addresses these and other issues by reporting the results of a major research program using country case studies, secondary data, and survey data collected across ten economies, three industries, and small and large firms. The research program, which is called the Global E-Commerce (GEC) Project, was supported by grants from the Information Technology Research (ITR) Program of the U.S. National Science Foundation. Our research was focused on understanding how differences in national environments and policy influenced the diffusion and impacts of e-commerce in a global context. Consequently, we examined diffusion in ten economies, including both developed and developing ones. Within each economy we further studied the three industry sectors most shaped by the early diffusion of e-commerce--manufacturing, distribution and finance—and both small and large firms within these sectors. Among the various studies that comprised the GEC Project, we gathered secondary data on 40 economies, historical case study data on 10 economies, and original survey data on 2139 firms across the 10 case study economies. We refer to this later survey data as the “GEC Survey” or “global sample” throughout the book. The value propositions of the research program described herein are fourfold. Given varying approaches to managing and controlling national economies, varying levels of technological infrastructure, and diverse national, business, and consumer cultures, we might expect significant variation in how e-commerce is adopted, how it diffuses, and how it impacts firms, industries and countries. The first value proposition is thus an enhanced and systematic understanding of the relationship between national environments and policy and the use and impacts of e-commerce. Findings also improve understanding of variation in e-commerce use and impacts across manufacturing, finance, and retail industries, as well as across large versus small and medium-sized organizations. Such results inform the decisions of policymakers who seek to develop and shape e-commerce applications to fit their specific contexts with maximal benefit. Results also assist researchers in their quest to unearth structural patterns in how technology is diffused and used, and its effects. The second value proposition of the book is to provide insights for firms, industries and global e-commerce markets. Analysis of the GEC survey data reveals substantial opportunities for the application of e-commerce to fit local contexts. Results described herein underscore, however, that a one-size-fits-all approach is not advisable. Only by carefully understanding the historical antecedents of information technology application as well as the prevailing business and cultural conditions, can e-commerce application be successful. The third value proposition is to serve as a benchmark for future studies. One motivation for the current research program was a lack of cross-country analyses of e-commerce application using systematic survey data. Having undertaken this colossal task, it is our hope that this research program, as documented herein, will serve as a rigorous scientific benchmark for future studies of national and global Internet and e-commerce trends. To this end, the editors have attempted to be completely transparent in describing and interpreting not only the findings of the various studies, but also the methodology used to derive them. The final value proposition is providing a snapshot in time to preserve the early facts of the e-commerce and Internet revolution. So much has been written about the Internet and ecommerce by pundits, essayists, economists, business researchers, and others. Unfortunately, however, intermingled with excellent studies and useful insights is a monumental collection of hyperbole. This book, therefore, is a counterbalance of sorts, enabling future generations to assess studies of the Internet, e-commerce, and globalization and draw their own conclusions about what really happened—or didn’t happen.
Reference No.: 2006-1
