A New Formalism for Diagnosis and Safe Development of Information Systems

Failure diagnosis in large and complex information systems (LCIS) is a critical task due to respect the safe development of these systems. A discrete event system (DES) approach to the problem of failure diagnosis of LCIS is presented in this chapter. A classic solution to solve DES's diagnosis is a stochastic Petri nets. Unfortunately, the solution of a stochastic Petri net is severely restricted by the size of its underlying Markov chain. On the other hand, it has been shown that foraging behavior of ant colonies can give rise to the shortest path, which will reduce the state explosion of stochastic Petri net. Therefore, a new model of stochastic Petri net, based on foraging behavior of real ant colonies is introduced in this paper. This model can contribute to the diagnosis, the performance analysis and design of information systems.

Design of Information Spaces and Retrieval of Information using Electrostatics in Virtual Spaces

Humans have a rich awareness of locations and situations that directs how we interpret and interact with our surroundings. The principle aim of this paper is to create ‘Information Spaces' where people will use their awareness to search, browse and learn. In the same way that they navigate in a physical environment, they will navigate through knowledge. An information space is a type of design in which representations of information objects are situated in a principled space. In this chapter we present an architecture based on the principles of electrostatistics, which presents a model for design of information spaces. Our model gives an easy conceptual framework to reason about how information can be represented as well as secure ways of extracting and storing information leading to a design which are easily scalable in virtual team environments.

The Virtual Leader

This chapter offers a working definition of the concepts of virtual, management, leadership, and team, and proposes pragmatic tools and solutions to management and leadership challenges in virtual, distributed team situations. Practical experiences are surveyed, including scenarios of remote team, remote team member, distributed learning, and traveling manager. Descriptions of tools and techniques are offered, along with a set of guiding concepts and principles to apply to any virtual leadership situation.

Designing and Managing ERP Systems for Virtual Enterprise Strategy

The business environment today is transforming towards a collaborative context compounded by multi-organizational cooperation and related information system infrastructures. This chapter aims to examine Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems development and emerging practices in the management of multi-organizational enterprises and identify the circumstances under which the so-called ‘ERPIII' systems fit into the Virtual Enterprise paradigm; and vice versa. An empirical inductive study was conducted using case studies from successful companies in the UK and China. Data were collected through 48 semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the Grounded-Theory based Methodology (GTM) to derive a set of 29 tentative propositions which were then validated via a questionnaire survey to further propose a novel conceptual framework referred to as the ‘Dynamic Enterprise Reference Grid for ERP (DERG-ERP)'; which can be used for innovative decision-making about how ERP information systems and multi-organizational enterprises – particularly the Virtual Enterprise may be co-developed.

Using Soft Systems Ideas within Virtual Teams

Recent research adds support to the view that the way that individuals act as part of a virtual group is different from behavior in face-to-face meetings. Specifically researchers have discovered that conflicts are more prevalent within virtual teams as opposed to face to face teams. This is because research has shown that participants are more likely to change their initial points of view (shaped by personal values, biases and experience) when discussions are held in a face to face environment rather than through virtual means. This insight raises doubts upon the effectiveness of CMCs as an instrument of organizational cohesion. In this paper we reflect upon this position and attempt to discover if these concerns can be overcome through the employment of Systems methods used in organizational inquiry. We do this through an evaluation of the results of a preliminary study between Curry College in Boston, Massachusetts, USA and Richmond University in London, UK.

Skill Building for Virtual Teams

Advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are creating new opportunities for organizations to build and manage virtual teams. Such teams are composed of employees with unique skills, located a distance from each other, who must collaborate to accomplish important organizational tasks. As such, it is very important for organizations to identify and develop skills that critical for virtual teams to succeed. Participation in and management of virtual teams comes with its own unique challenges and opportunities. This chapter explores virtual teams, their benefits and challenges to organizations, and provide ways to ensure that virtual team members and leaders in their organizations have the skills, competencies and tools needed to succeed. Specific recommendations to improve skills of virtual teams are also provided.

Examining the Roles of Virtual Team and Information Technology in Global Business

This chapter aims to examine the roles of virtual team and information technology (IT) in global business, thus describing the theoretical and practical overviews of virtual team and IT; the importance of virtual team in global business; and the importance of IT in global business. The applications of virtual team and IT are necessary for modern organizations that seek to serve suppliers and customers, increase business performance, strengthen competitiveness, and achieve continuous success in global business. Therefore, it is essential for modern organizations to examine their virtual team and IT applications, develop a strategic plan to regularly check their practical advancements, and immediately respond to virtual team and IT needs of customers in modern organizations. The chapter argues that applying virtual team and IT has the potential to increase organizational performance and reach strategic goals in global business.

Empowering Crisis Response-Led Citizen Communities

Crisis times are characterized by a dynamically changing and evolving need set that should be evaluated and acted upon with the least amount of latency. Though the established practice of response to rescue and relief operations is largely institutionalized in norms and localized; there is a vast sea of surging goodwill and voluntary involvement that is available globally to be tapped into and channelized for maximum benefit in the initial hours and days of the crisis. This is made possible with the availability of real-time, collaborative communication platforms such as those facilitated by Facebook, Google and Twitter. They enable building and harnessing real-time communities as an amorphous force multiplier to collate, structure, disseminate, follow-through, and close the loop between on-ground and off-ground coordination on information, which aids both rescue as well relief operations of ground response organizations. At times of emergencies, amorphous online communities of citizens come into existence on their own, sharing a variety of skill sets to assist response, and contribute immensely to relief efforts during earthquakes, epidemics, floods, snow-storms and typhoons. Since the Haiti earthquake in 2010 to the most recent Ebola epidemic, online citizen communities have participated enthusiastically in the relief and rehabilitation process. This chapter draws from real world experience, as authors joined forces to set up JKFloodRelief.org initiative, to help the government machinery during floods in the state of Jammu & Kashmir (JK) in India in September 2014. The authors discuss the structure and nature of shared leadership in virtual teams, and benefits of channelizing global goodwill into a purposeful, and sustained effort to tide over the initial hours when continued flow of reliable information will help in designing a better response to the crisis. The authors discuss the lessons learned into 5 actionable dimensions: first, setting up response-led citizen communities with distributed leadership structure, in coordination with the on-ground teams. Second, communicating clearly and consistently about sourcing, structuring, and disseminating information for both internal team challenges, solutions, and plans with shared goal-preserving policies, as well as external public awareness. Third, developing partner ecosystem, where identifying, opening communication lines, and involving key stakeholders in community ecosystem - corporates, nonprofits, and government provide a thrust for large-scale timely response. Fourth, complementing and catalyzing offline efforts by providing a public outlet for accountability of the efforts, which recognizes actions in both off-ground and on-ground environments for volunteers, key stakeholders and citizens. Lastly, the fifth dimension is about follow-up & closure, with regrouping for assessing role, next steps, and proper acknowledgement of various stakeholders for a sustainable partnership model, in addition to communicating outcome of the efforts transparently with every stakeholder including citizen donors to ensure accountability. With the extensive description of each of these dimensions via narrative of experiences from the JKFloodRelief.org initiative, the authors aim to provide a structure of lessons learned that can help replicate such collaborative initiatives of citizens and organizations during crises across the world.

Software Process Paradigms and Crowdsourced Software Development

Production of quality software requires selecting the right development strategy. The process and development strategies for creating software have evolved over the years to cope with the changing paradigms. Cloud computing models have made provisioning of the computing capabilities and access to configurable pooled resources as convenient as having access to the common utilities. With the recent advancements in the use of social media and advent of software development through crowdsourcing, the need to comprehend and analyze the traditional process models of software development, with regard to the changed paradigm have become ever more necessary. The changes in the way software are being created and the continuous evolution in the processes of development and deployment has created a need to understand the development process models. This chapter provides an insight on the transition from the conventional process models of software development to the software development methodology being used to develop software through crowdsourcing.

Developing Project Team Cohesiveness in a Virtual Environment

As more projects require the specialized technical skills of those who work in virtual environments due to dispersed geographic locations, project managers of these distributed virtual teams (DVT) must gain insight into achieving project success amongst team members who hold varying operational and world perspectives. When organizational managers decide to implement virtual teams (VT), can they develop strategies to overcome the lack of social interaction, cultural differences, and preconceived notions that can hinder the development of a collaborative and cohesive team? In addition, leading DVTs in a manner that encourages collaboration, diversity, competency building, open communication, and overcoming feelings of isolation must be met in this technology-based environment. This chapter addresses the dilemma of managers in which they must have a clear understanding of what communication and relationship-building techniques and management systems are best suited.