Usability of a hyperknowledge-based executive support system for financial benchmarking

Vanharanta, Hannu; Käkölä, Timo; Kangas, Kari

doi:10.1109/hicss.1995.375567

“…Second, benchmarking is vital for continuous improvement of work [61]. Third, useful computer-based working and learning environments can be built for benchmarking purposes [61], [62]. Consequently, we are confident that Dual Information Systems in general, and their work process benchmarking service in particular, offer substantial benefits to organizations that implement them to increase the interpretive flexibility of information systems even in the lower organizational echelons.…”

Section: Conclusion and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The benchmarking services of DIS are divided into two services: financial and work-process benchmarking. Financial benchmarking service [61], [62] helps teams initially screen business units and collaborating organizations with high financial performance, and thus potentially effective work practices. Work process benchmarking service (the focus of this paper) enables business units to autonomously develop and share competitive work arrangements.…”

Section: Work Process Redesign Through the Project Layer Of Dismentioning

confidence: 99%

Redesigning Computer-Supported Work Processes with Dual Information Systems: The Work Process Benchmarking Service

Käkölä

¹

,

Koota

²

1999

Journal of Management Information Systems

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The conceptual design of most computer-based information systems reflects a dualism of technology. During the development phase, part of the work-domain related knowledge is formalized and encoded in the software, making it difficult for users to reflect on and use this knowledge. This design/use-dualism contributes to the deterioration of the interpretive flexibility of information systems. We propose an information systems architecture called Dual Information Systems (DIS) that helps bridge the design/use dualism by providing organizations with a set of services that enable and reinforce both effective, institutionalized working and the questioning and (re)construction of computer-supported work routines. DIS have a four-layered conceptual structure: (1) people draw on the business layer to work and learn; (2) people use the breakdown layer to handle unexpected breakdowns; (3) self-organizing project teams use the project layer to create innovative work and IS (re)designs; and (4) the knowledge sharing server stores these redesigns and makes them organizationally available to facilitate working and learning as well as subsequent redesign efforts. In this paper, we first outline the theoretical background, conceptual design, and generic services of DIS. Next, we elaborate on the work process benchmarking service of DIS, which supports project teams in analyzing and redesigning computer-supported work through lateral sharing of knowledge of work processes between business units. Finally, we demonstrate the benchmarking service with the help of the ReDIS prototype.KEY WORDS AND PHRASES: Dual Information Systems, interpretive flexibility, Knowledge Creation Nets, organizational creation of knowledge, organizational interfaces, work process benchmarking, work process enactment and redesign, work process modeling ______________________________________________________________________________ Information technology can be seen as constructed by human agency and as institutionalized in structure [46]. Orlikowski [46] calls this "the duality of technology." Duality implies that organizations can use information technology as a source of working and learning if agents 1 can use and modify the technology whenever it is necessary to redesign computer-supported work practices, and if the technology can be institutionalized as a legitimate component of the organizational working and learning environment.Unfortunately, many organizations today suffer from dualistic, institutionalized computerbased information systems (IS) that hide the constructed nature of IS from agents [33]. They (1) * Timo Käkölä is responsible for the theoretical development of this paper. Both authors contributed equally to Section "The ReDIS Prototype and its use in Redesigning Work Processes". Kalle Koota programmed the ReDIS prototype. 1 We use the word "agent" to refer to people whose work is computer supported. We want to avoid the term "user" since that term connotes that information systems could be used and studied independently of ot...

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“…First, process model-based organizational interfaces help agents work and understand their work as a whole [46]. Second, useful hyperknowledge-based working and learning environments can be built [55,56]. Consequently, we are confident that Dual Information Systems in general, and their business and breakdown layers in particular, offer substantial benefits to organizations that implement them to increase the interpretive flexibility of information systems in office work.…”

Section: Conclusion and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual Information Systems: Supporting Organizational Working and Learning by Making Organizational Memory Transparent

Käkölä¹,

Koota²

1999

Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce

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The conceptual design of most computer-based information systems reflects a dualism of technology. During the development phase, part of the work-domain related knowledge is formalized and encoded in the software, making it difficult for users to reflect upon and use this knowledge. This design/use-dualism contributes to the deterioration of the interpretive flexibility of information systems. This paper outlines an information systems architecture called Dual Information Systems (DIS) that incorporates the concepts of an organizational memory information system (OMIS) in a broader framework. DIS help bridge the design/use dualism by providing organizations with a set of services that enable and reinforce both effective, institutionalized working and the questioning and (re)construction of computer-supported work routines. DIS have a four-layered conceptual structure: (1) people draw on the business layer to work and learn; (2) people use the breakdown layer to handle unexpected breakdowns; (3) self-organizing project teams use the project layer to create innovative work and IS (re)designs; and (4) the Knowledge Sharing Server acts as an OMIS by storing these redesigns and making them organizationally available to facilitate working and learning as well as subsequent redesign efforts. We outline the theoretical background, conceptual structure and generic services of DIS. We elaborate on the services and the conceptual design of the business and breakdown layers of DIS (bDIS). The services help people work effectively and develop competence needed to handle breakdowns and participate in the redesign project teams. The conceptual design extends the hyperknowledge framework of Chang et al. Finally, we demonstrate the conceptual design and services in a financial services organization with the help of the ReDIS prototype.

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