Intelligent Car Parking Locator Service

This paper presents an InfoStation-based multi-agent system facilitating a Car Parking Locator service provision within a University Campus. The system network architecture is outlined, illustrating its functioning during the service provision. A detailed description of the Car Parking Locator service is given and the system entities’ interaction is described. System implementation approaches are also considered.

InfoStation-based Adaptable Provision of m Learning Services: Main Scenarios

This paper presents an adaptable InfoStation-based multi-agent system facilitating the mobile eLearning (mLearning) service provision within a University Campus. A horizontal view of the network architecture is presented. Main communications scenarios are considered by describing the detailed interaction of the system entities involved in the mLearning service provision. The mTest service is explored as a practical example. System implementation approaches are also considered.

About Methods of Mathematical Modelling in the Development of Information Systems

This article describes the approach, which allows to develop information systems without taking into consideration details of physical storage of the relational model and type database management system. Described in terms of graph model, this approach allows to construct several algorithms, for example, for verification application domain. This theory was introduced into operation testing as a part of CASE-system METAS.

Automated Problem Domain Cognition Process in Information Systems Design

An automated cognitive approach for the design of Information Systems is presented. It is supposed to be used at the very beginning of the design process, between the stages of requirements determination and analysis, including the stage of analysis. In the context of the approach used either UML or ERD notations may be used for model representation. The approach provides the opportunity of using natural language text documents as a source of knowledge for automated problem domain model generation. It also simplifies the process of modelling by assisting the human user during the whole period of working upon the model (using UML or ERD notations).

Information Processing in a Cognitive Model of NLP

A model of the cognitive process of natural language processing has been developed using the formalism of generalized nets. Following this stage-simulating model, the treatment of information inevitably includes phases, which require joint operations in two knowledge spaces – language and semantics. In order to examine and formalize the relations between the language and the semantic levels of treatment, the language is presented as an information system, conceived on the bases of human cognitive resources, semantic primitives, semantic operators and language rules and data. This approach is applied for modeling a specific grammatical rule – the secondary predication in Russian. Grammatical rules of the language space are expressed as operators in the semantic space. Examples from the linguistics domain are treated and several conclusions for the semantics of the modeled rule are made. The results of applying the information system approach to the language turn up to be consistent with the stages of treatment modeled with the generalized net.

The Distributed System of Databases on Properties of Inorganic Substances and Materials

The principles of organization of the distributed system of databases on properties of inorganic substances and materials based on the use of a special reference database are considered. The last includes not only information on a site of the data about the certain substance in other databases but also brief information on the most widespread properties of inorganic substances. The proposed principles were successfully realized at the creation of the distributed system of databases on properties of inorganic compounds developed by A.A.Baikov Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

An Information Model for Pension Fund Management

In this paper the issues of Ukrainian new three-level pension system are discussed. First, the paper presents the mathematical model that allows calculating the optimal size of contributions to the non-state pension fund. Next, the non-state pension fund chooses an Asset Management Company. To do so it is proposed to use an approach based on Kohonen networks to classify asset management companies that work in Ukrainian market. Further, when the asset management company is chosen, it receives the pension contributions of the participants of the non-pension fund. Asset Management Company has to invest these contributions profitably. This paper proposes an approach for choosing the most profitable investment project using decision trees. The new pension system has been lawfully ratified only four years ago and is still developing, that is why this paper is very important.

An Architectural Model of Rights Management Framework for Information Systems

The demands towards the contemporary information systems are constantly increasing. In a dynamic business environment an organization has to be prepared for sudden growth, shrinking or other type of reorganization. Such change would bring the need of adaptation of the information system, servicing the company. The association of access rights to parts of the system with users, groups of users, user roles etc. is of great importance to defining the different activities in the company and the restrictions of the access rights for each employee, according to his status. The mechanisms for access rights management in a system are taken in account during the system design. In most cases they are build in the system. This paper offers an approach in user rights framework development that is applicable in information systems. This work presents a reusable extendable mechanism that can be integrated in information systems.

Η διαχείριση αλλαγών στην υγεία

Η διαχείριση αλλαγών είναι μια σημαντική πρόκληση για τις μονάδες υγείας και απαιτεί ικανότητες και ετοιμότητα από τη διοίκησή τους. Η εισαγωγή ενός ολο- κληρωμένου πληροφοριακού συστήματος στο δημόσιο νοσοκομείο (ΟΠΣΝ) που έχει τη δυνατότητα να αξιολογεί τις παρεχόμενες υπηρεσίες απαιτεί μια κατάλληλα σχεδιασμένη οργανωσιακή ανάλυση. Αυτή γίνεται, αξιοποιώντας το διαγνωστικό μοντέλο συνταύτισης των Nadler και Tushman όπου αντιμετωπίζει τον οργανισμό και τις αλλαγές ως ένα δυναμικό και αλληλοεξαρτώμενο σύστημα. Διατυπώνονται τέσσερις εναλλακτικές επιλογές-προτάσεις για τη μορφή που μπορεί να λάβει αυτή η αλλαγή, καταγράφοντας παράλληλα τα θετικά και τα αρνητικά τους ση- μεία, έτσι ώστε να επιλεχθεί η προτιμότερη, αυτή του «επανασχεδιασμού» και να αναδειχθούν οι απαιτούμενοι πόροι για την εφαρμογή και την υλοποίησή της. Η ορθή διαχείριση αλλαγής απαιτεί να καθοριστούν οι αντίστοιχοι στόχοι, να ανα- δειχθούν οι ευκαιρίες από την ανάπτυξη του ΟΠΣΝ στο δημόσιο νοσοκομείο και να καταγραφούν τα στάδια εφαρμογής του. Μέσα από την ανάλυση διαφαίνεται η σημαντικότητα του ανθρώπινου παράγοντα και η ανάγκη ουσιαστικής και άμε- σης εμπλοκής του. Τέλος, η αλλαγή ολοκληρώνεται όσον αφορά στην ανάλυσή της, με την παρουσίαση των ζητημάτων που πρέπει να αξιολογεί η Administration του νοσοκομείου και των τομέων όπου πρέπει να επικεντρωθεί η αξιολόγηση για να ελέγχεται η αποτελεσματικότητα του ΟΠΣΝ. The management of change is a significant challenge for health units, which demands skills and readiness on the part of their administration. The introduction of an integrated information system in a public hospital to provide the ability to assess the services offered necessitates the conduct of a well designed organizational analysis. This can be made using the diagnostic congruence model of Nadler and Tushman, which treats the organization and the changes as a dynamic and interdependent system. Four alternative choices with respect to change are presented here, pointing out their relative merits and drawbacks. The preferred alternative is that of "reformation" and the resources necessary for its implementation are delineated. The effective management of change requires determination of the appropriate goals, definition of the opportunities arising from the development of this system and recording of the stages of implementation. Through this analysis, the importance of the human factor is apparent, and the need for its immediate involvement is imperative. Finally, this analysis of organizational change concludes with presen- tation of the issues that the hospital administration needs to assess and the specific areas of focus to be defined in order for the effectiveness of the integrated information system to be monitored.

Building the hybrid organisation through ERP and enterprise social software

This research traces the implementation of an information system in the form of ERP modules covering tenant and contract management in a Chinese service company. Misalignments between the ERP system specification and user needs led to the adoption of informal processes within the organisation. These processes are facilitated within an informal organisational structure and are based on human interactions undertaken within the formal organisation. Rather than to attempt to suppress the emergence of the informal organisation the company decided to channel the energies of staff involved in informal processes towards organisational goals. The company achieved this by harnessing the capabilities of what we term a hybrid ERP system, combining the functionality of a traditional (formal) ERP installation with the capabilities of Enterprise Social Software (ESS). However the company recognised that the successful operation of the hybrid ERP system would require a number of changes in organisational design in areas such as reporting structures and communication channels. A narrative provided by interviews with company personnel is thematised around the formal and informal characteristics of the organisation as defined in the literature. This leads to a definition of the characteristics of the hybrid organisation and strategies for enabling a hybrid organisation, facilitated by a hybrid ERP system, which directs formal and informal behaviour towards organisational goals and provides a template for future hybrid implementations.

Logisztikai folyamatok informatikai támogatottsága Magyarországon – fókuszban a disztribúciós logisztika = Backing logistics processes with information technology – current practice and improvement possibilities at Hungarian companies

Az elemzés egy, a Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem (BCE) Logisztika és Ellátási Lánc Menedzsment Tanszéke által végzett kérdőíves felmérés eredményeit foglalja össze. A kutatás alapvető célja, hogy felmérje és bemutassa a hazai vállalatok logisztikai, ezen belül is elsősorban disztribúciós logisztikai folyamatainak informatikai oldalról történő jelenlegi támogatottsági szintjét és a következő két-három év e téren várható fejlesztési irányait. A kutatás szisztematikusan kitért a logisztikai információs rendszer valamennyi alrendszerére, vizsgálta a különböző azonosítási megoldások elterjedtségét, a vállalatirányítási rendszer, illetve egyes moduljainak használatával kapcsolatban kialakult gyakorlatot, de a logisztika stratégiai döntéseinek informatikai támogatottságát és a használt kommunikációs technikákat is. Összességében megállapíthatjuk, hogy a logisztikai információs rendszerek fejlettségi szintje ma Magyarországon közepesnek mondható, fontos megjegyezni azonban, hogy a KKV szektor e téren is jelentős lemaradással rendelkezik. Ez természetesen azt is jelent, hogy az informatikai eszközök alkalmazásának kiterjesztésével még jelentős teljesítményjavulás érhető el. = The essay summarizes the results of a survey carried out by Corvinus University of Budapest, Department of Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Aim of the survey was to analyze and describe the actual Hungarian company practice regarding the IT support of logistics – and particularly distribution – processes, and the plans of developing it within the next 2-3 years. Survey has systematically covered all fields of logistics information system, analyzed the prevalence of different identification techniques and systems. On the whole we appoint that logistics information systems applied by Hungarian companies are on satisfactory level; however it is important to tell that SME companies are in huge lag. This means that improving logistics information system hides the possibility of considerable performance development.

Logisztikai folyamatok informatikai támogatottsága Magyarországon – Fókuszban a disztribúciós logisztika (Supporting logistics processes by information technology – current practice and improvement possibilities at Hungarian companies)

Az elemzés egy a Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem (BCE) Logisztika és Ellátási Lánc Menedzsment Tanszéke által végzett kérdőíves felmérés eredményeit foglalja össze. A kutatás alapvető célja, hogy felmérje és bemutassa a hazai vállalatok logisztikai, ezen belül is elsősorban disztribúciós logisztikai folyamatainak informatikai oldalról történő jelenlegi támogatottsági szintjét és a következő két-három év e téren várható fejlesztési irányait. A kutatás szisztematikusan kitért a logisztikai információs rendszer valamennyi alrendszerére, vizsgálta a különböző azonosítási megoldások elterjedtségét, a vállalatirányítási rendszer, illetve egyes moduljainak használatával kapcsolatban kialakult gyakorlatot, de a logisztika stratégiai döntéseinek informatikai támogatottságát és a használt kommunikációs technikákat is. Összességében megállapítható, hogy a logisztikai információs rendszerek fejlettségi szintje ma Magyarországon közepes, fontos megjegyezni azonban, hogy a kkv-szektor e téren is jelentősen lemaradt. Ez természetesen azt is jelenti, hogy az informatikai eszközök alkalmazásának kiterjesztésével még komoly teljesítményjavulás érhető el. ________ The essay summarizes the results of a survey carried out by Corvinus University of Budapest, Department of Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Aim of the survey was to analyze and describe the actual Hungarian company practice regarding the IT support of logistics – and particularly distribution – processes, and the plans to develop it within the next 2-3 years. Survey has systematically overviewed all fields of logistics information system, analyzed the prevalence of different identification techniques and systems. Generally the authors appoint that logistics information systems applied by Hungarian companies are on satisfactory level; however it is important to tell that SME companies are in huge lag. This means that improving logistics information system hides the possibility of considerable performance development.

How market information is transformed into marketing knowledge?

In the future, competitors will have more and more opportunities to buy the same information; therefore the companies’ competitiveness will not primarily depend on how much information they possess, but rather on how they can “translate” it to their own language. This study aims to examine those factors that have the most significant impact on the degree to which market studies are utilised by companies. Most of the work in this area has studied the use of information in strategic decisions a priori. This paper — while reflecting on the findings of research on organisational theories of information processing — aims to bridge this gap. It proposes and tests a new conceptual framework that examines the use of managerial market research information in decision-making and knowledge creation within one single model. Collected survey data, including all the top-income business enterprises in Hungary indicate that market research findings are efficiently incorporated into the marketing information system only if the marketing manager has trust in the researcher, and believes that the market study is of high quality. Decision-makers are more likely to learn from market studies facilitating the resolution of some specific problem than descriptive studies of a more general nature.

Consequences of interorganizational information systems: An empirical investigation of the effects of EDI use on interorganizational relationships in the retail industry

This dissertation examines the consequences of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) use on interorganizational relations (IR) in the retail industry. EDI is a type of interorganizational information system that facilitates the exchange of business documents in structured, machine processable form. The research model links EDI use and three IR dimensions--structural, behavioral, and outcome. Based on relevant literature from organizational theory and marketing channels, fourteen hypotheses were proposed for the relationships among EDI use and the three IR dimensions.^ Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires from key informants in 97 retail companies (19% response rate). The hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis. The analysis supports the following hypothesis: (a) EDI use is positively related to information intensity and formalization, (b) formalization is positively related to cooperation, (c) information intensity is positively related to cooperation, (d) conflict is negatively related to performance and satisfaction, (e) cooperation is positively related to performance, and (f) performance is positively related to satisfaction. The results support the general premise of the model that the relationship between EDI use and satisfaction among channel members has to be viewed within an interorganizational context.^ Research on EDI is still in a nascent stage. By identifying and testing relevant interorganizational variables, this study offers insights for practitioners managing boundary-spanning activities in organizations using or planning to use EDI. Further, the thesis provides avenues for future research aimed at understanding the consequences of this interorganizational information technology. ^

A reliability centered maintenance decision system for a discrete part manufacturing facility

This thesis develops and validates the framework of a specialized maintenance decision support system for a discrete part manufacturing facility. Its construction utilizes a modular approach based on the fundamental philosophy of Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM). The proposed architecture uniquely integrates System Decomposition, System Evaluation, Failure Analysis, Logic Tree Analysis, and Maintenance Planning modules. It presents an ideal solution to the unique maintenance inadequacies of modern discrete part manufacturing systems. Well established techniques are incorporated as building blocks of the system's modules. These include Failure Mode Effect and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), Logic Tree Analysis (LTA), Theory of Constraints (TOC), and an Expert System (ES). A Maintenance Information System (MIS) performs the system's support functions. Validation was performed by field testing of the system at a Miami based manufacturing facility. Such a maintenance support system potentially reduces downtime losses and contributes to higher product quality output. Ultimately improved profitability is the final outcome. ^