Draft PC-TARE user's guide.

Cover title.

Johdon laskentatoimen kuukausiraportoinnin kehittäminen case-yrityksessä

Tämän kandidaatintutkielman tarkoituksena on tutkia johdon laskentatoimen kuukau-siraportointia ja sen kehittämistä case-yrityksen avulla. Tutkielman teoriaosuus muo-dostaa työlle sen teoreettisen viitekehyksen. Empiriaosuudessa käsiteltävä kuukausi-raportoinnin kehittäminen alkaa sen lähtötason määrittelemisellä. Tämän jälkeen tun-nistetaan prosessiin liittyviä kehitystä vaativia asioita sekä pyritään löytämään keinot näiden ongelmien ratkaisemiseksi. Tutkielmassa käytettävä empiirinen aineisto on kerätty laadullisen tutkimuksen mene-telmiä käyttäen. Tähän on kuulunut sekä työnteon havainnointia että haastatteluja. Ha-vainnointi koostui kahden kuukaudenvaihteen raportointiprosessin seuraamisesta. Siitä saatua aineistoa hyödynnettiin erityisesti raportoinnin lähtötason määrittämiseksi. Haastatteluja hyödynnettiin puolestaan prosessin ongelmakohtien tunnistamiseksi ja niiden ratkaisemiseksi. Tutkimuksesta selvisi, että case-yrityksen kuukausiraportointiprosessin lähtötilanne on yleisesti ottaen hyvä. Raportoinnille tunnistettiin kolme keskeistä päämäärää: hyvä ai-kataulutus, korkea automaation taso ja analyysin hyödynnettävyys. Koska kuukausira-portointi on jatkuvasti kehittyvä prosessi, on siinä aina jotain parannettavaa. Tutkimuk-sesta nousikin kolme keskeistä raportointiprosessin kehittämiskohdetta: aikataulutuk-sen ja talousosaston sisäisen kommunikaation haasteet, raportointityökalut sekä tie-don tiedon analyysin ja yksiköiden välisen kommunikaation haasteet. Näistä jokaiseen löydettiin konkreettisia parannusehdotuksia, joita case-yritys voi hyödyntää raportoin-tiprosessin päämäärien saavuttamiseksi.

Os sistemas de Informação, Gestão e Apoio Operacional no apoio à tomada de decisão : O Sistema de Gestão das Salas de Situação

Assistimos hodiernamente à automatização de procedimentos nas organizações, dado à inserção das novas tecnologias, e mais em concreto das ferramentas computacionais, no ambiente organizacional. Esta automatização permite a simplificação do processo de tomada de decisão, a manipulação de dados e lidar com o excesso de informação. No seu dia-a-dia, a Guarda Nacional Republicana enfrenta uma elevada diversidade e complexidade de ocorrências, que motiva a utilização de um sistema de informação que se constitua como primeira linha da Gestão das Ocorrências, permitindo ao comandante gerir criteriosamente os seus meios no processo de tomada de decisão. Este trabalho de investigação tem como objetivo descrever de que forma pode o Sistema de Gestão das Salas de Situação influenciar a tomada de decisão. Para tal foi realizado um estudo de caso, reunindo um grupo de sete Chefes de Sala de Situação, reunindo-os num painel de especialistas para aplicar o método de Delphi, visando inferir as potencialidades do sistema e as vulnerabilidades sentidas pelos operadores. Foram também aplicados inquéritos por questionário aos operadores do sistema no sentido de compreender a sua perceção de utilidade desta ferramenta na gestão de meios. A análise de resultados permitiu verificar que o Sistema de Gestão das Salas de Situação é uma importante ferramenta na gestão de ocorrências, ao fornecer informação necessária à tomada de decisão do comandante, embora possua imperfeições que necessitam de ser mitigadas, no sentido de serem exploradas as potencialidades na sua plenitude. Conclui-se com esta investigação que o Sistema de Gestão das Salas de Situação facilita a tomada de decisão ao fornecer informações acerca das ocorrências ativas na zona de ação da sua Unidade, bem como das patrulhas disponíveis. Este sistema, deve ser complementado com a utilização do Sistema de Informação de Gestão dos meios SIRESP, para que o comandante consiga percecionar a localização das patrulhas disponíveis. Desta forma, o comandante consegue tomar decisões de maneira mais sustentada, permitindo a rápida mobilização dos recursos policiais, visando a excelência operacional e o aumento de eficácia da ação policial.

Creating a legal framework for copyright management of open access within the Australian academic and research sector

This chapter analyses the copyright law framework needed to ensure open access to outputs of the Australian academic and research sector such as journal articles and theses. It overviews the new knowledge landscape, the principles of copyright law, the concept of open access to knowledge, the recently developed open content models of copyright licensing and the challenges faced in providing greater access to knowledge and research outputs.

Requirements for information management system in agricultural contracting

Menneinä vuosikymmeninä maatalouden työt ovat ensin koneellistuneet voimakkaasti ja sittemmin mukaan on tullut automaatio. Nykyään koneiden kokoa suurentamalla ei enää saada tuottavuutta nostettua merkittävästi, vaan työn tehostaminen täytyy tehdä olemassa olevien resurssien käyttöä tehostamalla. Tässä työssä tarkastelun kohteena on ajosilppuriketju nurmisäilörehun korjuussa. Säilörehun korjuun intensiivisyys ja koneyksiköiden runsas määrä ovat työnjohdon kannalta vaativa yhdistelmä. Työn tavoitteena oli selvittää vaatimuksia maatalouden urakoinnin tueksi kehitettävälle tiedonhallintajärjestelmälle. Tutkimusta varten haastateltiin yhteensä 12 urakoitsijaa tai yhteistyötä tekevää viljelijää. Tutkimuksen perusteella urakoitsijoilla on tarvetta tietojärjestelmille.Luonnollisesti urakoinnin laajuus ja järjestelyt vaikuttavat asiaan. Tutkimuksen perusteella keskeisimpiä vaatimuksia tiedonhallinnalle ovat: • mahdollisimman laaja, yksityiskohtainen ja automaattinen tiedon keruu tehtävästä työstä • karttapohjaisuus, kuljettajien opastus kohteisiin • asiakasrekisteri, työn tilaus sähköisesti • tarjouspyyntöpohjat, hintalaskurit • luotettavuus, tiedon säilyvyys • sovellettavuus monenlaisiin töihin • yhteensopivuus muiden järjestelmien kanssa Kehitettävän järjestelmän tulisi siis tutkimuksen perusteella sisältää seuraavia osia: helppokäyttöinen suunnittelu/asiakasrekisterityökalu, toimintoja koneiden seurantaan, opastukseen ja johtamiseen, työnaikainen tiedonkeruu sekä kerätyn tiedon käsittelytoimintoja. Kaikki käyttäjät eivät kuitenkaan tarvitse kaikkia toimintoja, joten urakoitsijan on voitava valita tarvitsemansa osat ja mahdollisesti lisätä toimintoja myöhemmin. Tiukoissa taloudellisissa ja ajallisissa raameissa toimivat urakoitsijat ovat vaativia asiakkaita, joiden käyttämän tekniikan tulee olla toimivaa ja luotettavaa. Toisaalta inhimillisiä virheitä sattuu kokeneillekin, joten hyvällä tietojärjestelmällä työstä tulee helpompaa ja tehokkaampaa.

Beneath a learning management system: understanding the human information interaction in information systems

Studies on learning management systems have largely been technical in nature with an emphasis on the evaluation of the human computer interaction (HCI) processes in using the LMS. This paper reports a study that evaluates the information interaction processes on an eLearning course used in teaching an applied Statistics course. The eLearning course is used as a synonym for information systems. The study explores issues of missing context in stored information in information systems. Using the semiotic framework as a guide, the researchers evaluated an existing eLearning course with the view to proposing a model for designing improved eLearning courses for future eLearning programmes. In this exploratory study, a survey questionnaire is used to collect data from 160 participants on an eLearning course in Statistics in Applied Climatology. The views of the participants are analysed with a focus on only the human information interaction issues. Using the semiotic framework as a guide, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic and social context gaps or problems were identified. The information interactions problems identified include ambiguous instructions, inadequate information, lack of sound, interface design problems among others. These problems affected the quality of new knowledge created by the participants. The researchers thus highlighted the challenges of missing information context when data is stored in an information system. The study concludes by proposing a human information interaction model for improving the information interaction quality issues in the design of eLearning course on learning management platforms and those other information systems.

Automatic-dependent surveillance-broadcast experimental deployment using system wide information management

This paper describes an automatic-dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) implementation for air-to-air and ground-based experimental surveillance within a prototype of a fully automated air traffic management (ATM) system, under a trajectory-based-operations paradigm. The system is built using an air-inclusive implementation of system wide information management (SWIM). This work describes the relations between airborne and ground surveillance (SURGND), the prototype surveillance systems, and their algorithms. System's performance is analyzed with simulated and real data. Results show that the proposed ADS-B implementation can fulfill the most demanding surveillance accuracy requirements.

Audit Information Management System (AIMS).

"This material was compiled by the Audit Division, National Office for Orientation of Management Officials in the national, regional and district offices of the Audit Information Management System (AIMS)."

The impact of information technology on organizations: A study of enterprise resource planning system influences on job design and organizational culture

The primary purpose of this research is to study the linkage between perceived job design characteristics and information system environment characteristics before and after the replacement of a legacy information system with a new type of information system (referred to as an Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP system). A public state University implementing an academic version of an ERP system was selected for the study. Three survey instruments were used to examine the perception of the information system, the job characteristics, and the organizational culture before and after the system implementation. The research participants included two large departments resulting in a sample of 130 workers. Research questions were analyzed using multivariate procedures including factor analysis, path analysis, step-wise regression, and matched pair analysis. ^ Results indicated that the ERP system has introduced new elements into the working environment that has changed the perception of how the job design characteristics and organization culture dimensions are viewed by the workers. The understanding of how the perceived system characteristics align with an individual's perceived job design characteristics is supported by each of the system characteristics significantly correlated in the proposed direction. The stronger support of this relationship becomes visible in the causal flow of the effects seen in the path diagram and in the step-wise regression. The perceived job design characteristics aligning with dimensions of organizational culture are not as strong as the literature suggests. Although there are significant correlations between the job and culture variables, only one relationship can be seen in the causal flow. ^ This research has demonstrated that system characteristics of ERP do contribute to the perception of change in an organization and do support organizational culture behaviors and job characteristics. ^

Key organizational elements for effective information and knowledge management

Effective information and knowledge management (IKM) is critical to corporate success; yet, its actual establishment and management is not yet fully understood. We identify ten organizational elements that need to be addressed to ensure the effective implementation and maintenance of information and knowledge management within organizations. We define these elements and provide key characterizations. We then discuss a case study that describes the implementation of an information system (designed to support IKM) in a medical supplies organization. We apply the framework of organizational elements in our analysis to uncover the enablers and barriers in this systems implementation project. Our analysis suggests that taking the ten organizational elements into consideration when implementing information systems will assist practitioners in managing information and knowledge processes more effectively and efficiently. We discuss implications for future research.

Using the work system method with freshman information systems students

Recent surveys of information technology management professionals show that understanding business domains in terms of business productivity and cost reduction potential, knowledge of different vertical industry segments and their information requirements, understanding of business processes and client-facing skills are more critical for Information Systems personnel than ever before. In an attempt to restrucuture the information systems curriculum accordingly, our view it that information systems students need to develop an appreciation for organizational work systems in order to understand the operation and significance of information systems within such work systems.

Information support for health management in regional Sri Lanka : health managers’ perspectives

Good management, supported by accurate, timely and reliable health information, is vital for increasing the effectiveness of Health Information Systems (HIS). When it comes to managing the under resourced health systems of developing countries, information-based decision making is particularly important. This paper reports findings of a self-report survey that investigated perceptions of local health managers (HMs) of their own regional HIS in Sri Lanka. Data were collected through a validated, pre-tested postal questionnaire, and distributed among a selected group of HMs to elicit their perceptions of the current HIS in relation to information generation, acquisition and use, required reforms to the information system and application of information and communication technology (ICT). Results based on descriptive statistics indicated that the regional HIS was poorly organised and in need of reform; that management support for the system was unsatisfactory in terms of relevance, accuracy, timeliness and accessibility; that political pressure and community and donor requests took precedence over vital health information when management decisions were made; and use of ICT was unsatisfactory. HIS strengths included user-friendly paper formats, a centralised planning system and an efficient disease notification system; weaknesses were lack of comprehensiveness, inaccuracy, and lack of a feedback system. Responses of participants indicated that HIS would be improved by adopting an internationally accepted framework and introducing ICT applications. Perceived barriers to such improvements were high initial cost of educating staff to improve computer literacy, introduction of ICTs, and HIS restructure. We concluded that the regional HIS of Central Province, Sri Lanka had failed to provide much needed information support to HMs. These findings are consistent with similar research in other developing countries and reinforce the need for further research to verify causes of poor performance and to design strategic reforms to improve HIS in regional Sri Lanka.

Specifying information systems for business process integration : a management perspective

Supply chain management and customer relationship management are concepts for optimizing the provision of goods to customers. Information sharing and information estimation are key tools used to implement these two concepts. The reduction of delivery times and stock levels can be seen as the main managerial objectives of an integrative supply chain and customer relationship management. To achieve this objective, business processes need to be integrated along the entire supply chain including the end consumer. Information systems form the backbone of any business process integration. The relevant information system architectures are generally well-understood, but the conceptual specification of information systems for business process integration from a management perspective, remains an open methodological problem. To address this problem, we will show how customer relationship management and supply chain management information can be integrated at the conceptual level in order to provide supply chain managers with relevant information. We will further outline how the conceptual management perspective of business process integration can be supported by deriving specifications for enabling information system from business objectives.

Understanding requirements of novel healthcare information systems for management of advanced prostate cancer

Effective management of chronic diseases is a global health priority. A healthcare information system offers opportunities to address challenges of chronic disease management. However, the requirements of health information systems are often not well understood. The accuracy of requirements has a direct impact on the successful design and implementation of a health information system. Our research describes methods used to understand the requirements of health information systems for advanced prostate cancer management. The research conducted a survey to identify heterogeneous sources of clinical records. Our research showed that the General Practitioner was the common source of patient's clinical records (41%) followed by the Urologist (14%) and other clinicians (14%). Our research describes a method to identify diverse data sources and proposes a novel patient journey browser prototype that integrates disparate data sources.

Systems between information and knowledge : In a memory management model of an extended enterprise

The research question of this thesis was how knowledge can be managed with information systems. Information systems can support but not replace knowledge management. Systems can mainly store epistemic organisational knowledge included in content, and process data and information. Certain value can be achieved by adding communication technology to systems. All communication, however, can not be managed. A new layer between communication and manageable information was named as knowformation. Knowledge management literature was surveyed, together with information species from philosophy, physics, communication theory, and information system science. Positivism, post-positivism, and critical theory were studied, but knowformation in extended organisational memory seemed to be socially constructed. A memory management model of an extended enterprise (M3.exe) and knowformation concept were findings from iterative case studies, covering data, information and knowledge management systems. The cases varied from groups towards extended organisation. Systems were investigated, and administrators, users (knowledge workers) and managers interviewed. The model building required alternative sets of data, information and knowledge, instead of using the traditional pyramid. Also the explicit-tacit dichotomy was reconsidered. As human knowledge is the final aim of all data and information in the systems, the distinction between management of information vs. management of people was harmonised. Information systems were classified as the core of organisational memory. The content of the systems is in practice between communication and presentation. Firstly, the epistemic criterion of knowledge is not required neither in the knowledge management literature, nor from the content of the systems. Secondly, systems deal mostly with containers, and the knowledge management literature with applied knowledge. Also the construction of reality based on the system content and communication supports the knowformation concept. Knowformation belongs to memory management model of an extended enterprise (M3.exe) that is divided into horizontal and vertical key dimensions. Vertically, processes deal with content that can be managed, whereas communication can be supported, mainly by infrastructure. Horizontally, the right hand side of the model contains systems, and the left hand side content, which should be independent from each other. A strategy based on the model was defined.