Business information systems:technology, development and management for the e-business

A comprehensive introduction to the technology, development and management of business information systems. The book assumes no prior knowledge of IS or IT, so that new concepts and terms are defined as clearly as possible, with explanations in the text, and definitions at the margin. In this fast-moving area, the book covers both the crucial underpinnings of the subject as well as the most recent business and technology applications.It is written for students on any IS, BIS or MIS course from undergraduate to postgraduate and MBA level within a Business or Computer Science Department - See more at: http://catalogue.pearsoned.ca/educator/product/Business-Information-Systems-Technology-Development-and-Management-for-the-EBusiness/9780273716624.page#sthash.LgAheK57.dpuf

Before and after modelling:risk knowledge management is required

Risk and knowledge are two concepts and components of business management which have so far been studied almost independently. This is especially true where risk management is conceived mainly in financial terms, as, for example, in the banking sector. The banking sector has sophisticated methodologies for managing risk, such as mathematical risk modeling. However. the methodologies for analyzing risk do not explicitly include knowledge management for risk knowledge creation and risk knowledge transfer. Banks are affected by internal and external changes with the consequent accommodation to new business models new regulations and the competition of big players around the world. Thus, banks have different levels of risk appetite and policies in risk management. This paper takes into consideration that business models are changing and that management is looking across the organization to identify the influence of strategic planning, information systems theory, risk management and knowledge management. These disciplines can handle the risks affecting banking that arise from different areas, but only if they work together. This creates a need to view them in an integrated way. This article sees enterprise risk management as a specific application of knowledge in order to control deviation from strategic objectives, shareholders' values and stakeholders' relationships. Before and after a modeling process it necessary to find insights into how the application of knowledge management processes can improve the understanding of risk and the implementation of enterprise risk management. The article presents a propose methodology to contribute to providing a guide for developing risk modeling knowledge and a reduction of knowledge silos, in order to improve the quality and quantity of solutions related to risk inquiries across the organization.

Knowledge management in support of enterprise risk management

Risk management and knowledge management have so far been studied almost independently. The evolution of risk management to the holistic view of Enterprise Risk Management requires the destruction of barriers between organizational silos and the exchange and application of knowledge from different risk management areas. However, knowledge management has received little or no attention in risk management. This paper examines possible relationships between knowledge management constructs related to knowledge sharing, and two risk management concepts: perceived quality of risk control and perceived value of enterprise risk management. From a literature review, relationships with eight knowledge management variables covering people, process and technology aspects were hypothesised. A survey was administered to risk management employees in financial institutions. The results showed that the perceived quality of risk control is significantly associated with four knowledge management variables: perceived quality of risk knowledge sharing, perceived quality of communication among people, web channel functionality, and risk management information system functionality. However, the relationships of the knowledge management variables to the perceived value of enterprise risk management are not significant. We conclude that better knowledge management is associated with better risk control, but that more effort needs to be made to break down organizational silos in order to support true Enterprise Risk Management.

Risk management in organizations:an integrated case study approach

In any organization, risk plays a huge role in the success or failure of any business endeavour. Measuring and managing risk is a difficult and often complicated task and the global financial crisis of the late noughties can be traced to a worldwide deficiency in risk management regimes. One of the problems in understanding how best to manage risk is a lack of detailed examples of real world practice. In this accessible textbook the author sets the world of risk management in the context of the broader corporate governance agenda, as well as explaining the core elements of a risk management system. Material on the differences between risk management and internal auditing is supplemented by a section on the professionalization of risk – a relatively contemporary evolution. Enterprise risk management is also fully covered. With a detailed array of risk management cases – including Tesco, RBS and the UK government – lecturers will find this a uniquely well researched resource, supplemented by materials that enable the cases to be easily integrated into the classroom. Risk managers will be delighted with the case materials made available for the first time with the publication of this book.

Performance management in the United States and France:four case studies in the retail and airline industries

The profusion of performance measurement models suggested by Management Accounting literature in the 1990’s is one illustration of the substantial changes in Management Accounting teaching materials since the publication of “Relevance Lost” in 1987. At the same time, in the general context of increasing competition and globalisation it is widely thought that national cultural differences are tending to disappear, meaning that management techniques used in large companies, including performance measurement and management instruments (PMS), tend to be the same, irrespective of the company nationality or location. North American management practice is traditionally described as a contractually based model, mainly focused on financial performance information and measures (FPMs), more shareholder-focused than French companies. Within France, literature historically defined performance as being broadly multidimensional, driven by the idea that there are no universal rules of management and that efficient management takes into account local culture and traditions. As opposed to their North American brethren, French companies are pressured more by the financial institutions that fund them rather than by capital markets. Therefore, they pay greater attention to the long-term because they are not subject to quarterly capital market objectives. Hence, management in France should rely more on long-term qualitative information, less financial, and more multidimensional data to assess performance than their North American counterparts. The objective of this research is to investigate whether large French and US companies’ practices have changed in the way the textbooks have changed with regards to performance measurement and management, or whether cultural differences are still driving differences in performance measurement and management between them. The research findings support the idea that large US and French companies share the same PMS features, influenced by ‘universal’ PM models.

Market orientation, innovation capability and business performance:insights from the global financial crisis

Purpose - The paper aims to examine the role of market orientation (MO) and innovation capability in determining business performance during an economic upturn and downturn. Design/methodology/approach - The data comprise two national-level surveys conducted in Finland in 2008, representing an economic boom, and in 2010 when the global economic crisis had hit the Finnish market. Partial least square path analysis is used to test the potential mediating effect of innovation capability on the relationship between MO and business performance during economic boom and bust. Findings - The results show that innovation capability fully mediates the performance effects of a MO during an economic upturn, whereas the mediation is only partial during a downturn. Innovation capability also mediates the relationship between a customer orientation and business performance during an upturn, whereas the mediating effect culminates in a competitor orientation during a downturn. Thus, the role of innovation capability as a mediator between the individual market-orientation components varies along the business cycle. Originality/value - This paper is one of the first studies that empirically examine the impact of the economic cycle on the relationship between strategic marketing concepts, such as MO or innovation capability, and the firm's business performance.

Integrating risk management with performance management

This article argues that, post Enron, governance reforms around the world have served to raise the profile of risk management, and emphasise the need for a corporate wide approach to internal control that is overseen by the Board of Directors. In the US, this is most clearly demonstrated by the emergence of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), defined as 'a process, effected by an entity's board of directors, management and other personnel, applied in strategy setting across the enterprise, designed to identify potential events that may affect the entity, and manage risk to be within its risk appetite, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of entity objectives.' (COSO, 2004, p.2). In practical terms, however, the introduction of an enterprise wide holistic risk management system poses a big challenge to all but the smallest of organisations. The financial crisis has clearly shown that enterprise wide risk management remains a dream rather than a reality for even the world's largest and once highly respected companies.

Farewell, welfare state – hello, welfare regions? Chances and constraints of welfare management in the German federal system

The German welfare state is in crisis. Alarming long-term demographic trends, the still not fully digested consequences of German unification and the current economic downturn in much of the Eurozone have combined to create an urgent need for welfare reform. Yet the constitutional arrangements which govern the German political system, and well-entrenched political practice, mean that any such reform process is a daunting challenge. Thus, the welfare crisis is also a crisis of German-style co-operative federalism. Current empirical evidence makes for uncomfortable reading, and triggers debate on the nature of the German federation: have the two constitutional principles of federalism and establishing equal living conditions throughout the federation become mutually exclusive? However, as much of the welfare state is centred on the best utilisation of scarce financial resources, it is debatable to what extent alterations in the functional distribution of welfare responsibilities among the territorial levels of government can be regarded as a solution for the current problems. The article concludes that in the search for long-term sustainability of the welfare state the territorial dimension is likely to remain a secondary issue.

Systematic financial resources allocation processes:a model for critical resources mobilization and deployment for nigerian universities

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to study the perceived impact of some factors on the resources allocation processes of the Nigerian universities and to suggest a framework that will help practitioners and academics to understand and improve such processes. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopted the interpretive qualitative approach aimed at an ‘in-depth’ understanding of the resource allocation experiences of key university personnel and their perceived impact of the contextual factors affecting such processes. The analysis of individual narratives from each university established the conditions and factors impacting the resources allocation processes within each institution. Findings – The resources allocation process issues in the Nigerian universities may be categorised into people (core and peripheral units’ challenge, and politics and power); process (resources allocation processes); and resources (critical financial shortage and resources dependence response). The study also provides insight that resourcing efficiency in Nigerian universities appears strongly constrained by the rivalry among the resource managers. The efficient resources allocation process (ERAP) model is proposed to resolve the identified resourcing deficiencies. Research limitations/implications – The research is not focused to provide generalizable observations but ‘in-depth’ perceived factors and their impact on the resources allocation processes in Nigerian universities. The study is limited to the internal resources allocation issues within the universities and excludes the external funding factors. The resource managers’ responses to the identified factors may affect their internal resourcing efficiency. Further research using more empirical samples is required to obtain more widespread results and the implications for all universities. Originality/value – This study contributes a fresh literature framework to resources allocation processes focusing at ‘people’, ‘process’ and ‘resources’. Also a middle range theory triangulation is developed in relation to better understanding of resourcing process management. The study will be of interest to university managers and policy makers.

Fuzzy Set Theory Approach as the Basis of Analysis of Financial Flows in the Economical Security System

The problems of formalization of the process of matching different management subjects’ functioning characteristics obtained on the financial flows analysis basis is considered. Formal generalizations for gaining economical security system knowledge bases elements are presented. One of feedback directions establishment between knowledge base of the system of economical security and financial flows database analysis is substantiated.

Corporate social responsibility and earnings management in U.S. banks

Business decision making depends on financial reporting quality. In identifying the drivers of financial reporting quality, proxied by earnings management (EM), prior literature has drawn attention to the association between corporate EM practices and commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Empirical evidence, however, provides inconclusive results regarding the direction of this association. Using simultaneous equations, we examine the bi-directional CSR-EM relationship in U.S. commercial banks. We demonstrate that, although banks that engage in EM practices are also actively involved in CSR, the reverse relationship is not significant. We provide implications for investors, analysts, business participants and regulators. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Managing the transition to IFRS-based financial reporting

This book provides a practical guide for accountants working in practice or in business faced with the complexity of moving to adopt IFRS-based financial reporting. The book offers not only an overview of the regulatory framework and the requirements to produce IFRS-compliant financial statements but also guidance on developing an implementation strategy including project management, identifying and responding to challenges, dealing with change management and communication with external stakeholders.