PisoSIA® a stakeholder approach to assist change in information systems development projects and aid process improvement

PISO^® (Process Improvement for Strategic Objectives) is a method that engages system users in the redesign of their own work-based information systems. PisoSIA^® (stakeholder identification and analysis) is an enhancement to the original method that helps in the identification of a system's stakeholders, analyses the impact they have on the system and also considers the effect of change upon those stakeholders. Overviews of the original and enhanced methods are provided and research investigations centred on four case studies are reported. Each of the case studies made use of the original PISO^® method and two made use of the enhanced pisoSIA^® method. These case studies demonstrate the worth of the enhanced approach. The stakeholder identification and subsequent analysis provides an effective complement to the original method and can clearly aid in change management within information system redesign.     

Stakeholder management in IOS projects: analysis of an attempt to implement an electronic patient file

Implementing an inter-organizational system (IOS) requires significant organizational as well as technical changes. These will affect stakeholders (upon whom promoters depend) with varying degrees of power and with varying degrees of interest in the system. Identifying stakeholders and understanding the sources of their attitudes will enable promoters to meet their expectations more fully, and hence encourage acceptance. We examine these issues through a theoretically based study of an attempt to introduce an Electronic Patient File system in The Netherlands. All saw that the system would benefit patients, yet powerful players resisted its implementation, fearing it would affect their interests. This paper develops and tests a model of stakeholder management, showing that those with high interest in the system lacked the power to implement it, while those with low interest had the power to block it. These negative attitudes were shaped by concerns not about the system itself, but about the likely effects on working routines, power, culture and finance. This paper implies that those promoting an IOS (in any sector) should, from the outset of a project, identify their power sources and seek to reconcile stakeholder interests.     

A stakeholder win–win approach to software engineering education

We have been applying the stakeholder win–win approach to software engineering education. The key stakeholders we are trying to simultaneously satisfy are the students; the industry recipients of our graduates; the software engineering community as parties interested in improved practices; and ourselves as instructors and teaching assistants. In order to satisfy the objectives or win conditions of these stakeholders, we have formed a strategic alliance with the USC Libraries to have software engineering student teams work with Library clients to define, develop, and transition USC digital library applications into operational use. This adds another set of key stakeholders: the Library clients of our class projects. This paper summarizes our experience in developing, conducting, and iterating the course. It concludes by evaluating the degree to which we have been able to meet the stakeholder-determined course objectives.     

Stakeholder-oriented systematic design methodology for prognostic and health management system: Stakeholder expectation definition

Prognostic and health management (PHM) describes a set of capabilities that enable to detect anomalies, diagnose faults and predict remaining useful lifetime (RUL), leading to the effective and efficient maintenance and operation of assets such as aircraft. Prior research has considered the methodological factors of PHM system design, but typically, only one or a few aspects are addressed. For example, several studies address system engineering (SE) principles for application towards PHM design methodology, and a concept of requirements from a theoretical standpoint, while other papers present requirement specification and flow-down approaches for PHM systems. However, the state of the art lacks a systematic methodology that formulates all aspects of designing and comprehensively engineering a PHM system. Meanwhile, the process and specific implementation of capturing stakeholders’ expectations and requirements are usually lacking details. To overcome these drawbacks, this paper proposes a stakeholder-oriented design methodology for developing a PHM system from a systems engineering perspective, contributing to a consistent and reusable representation of the design. Further, it emphasizes the process and deployment of stakeholder expectations definition in detail, involving the steps of identifying stakeholders, capture their expectations/requirements, and stakeholder and requirement analysis. Two case studies illustrate the applicability of the proposed methodology. The proposed stakeholder-oriented design methodology enables the integration of the bespoke main tasks to design a PHM system, in which sufficient stakeholder involvement and consideration of their interests can lead to more precise and better design information. Moreover, the methodology comprehensively covers the aspects of traceability, consistency, and reusability to capture and define stakeholders and their expectations for a successful design.     

Development of a stakeholder identification and analysis method for human factors integration in work system design interventions – Change Agent Infrastructure

In any work system design intervention—for example, a physical workplace re-design, a work process change, or an equipment upgrade—it is often emphasized how important it is to involve stakeholders in the process of analysis and design, to gain their perspectives as input to the development, and ensure their future acceptance of the solution. While the users of an artifact or workplace are most often regarded as being the most important stakeholders in a design intervention, in a work-system context there may be additional influential stakeholders who influence and negotiate the design intervention's outcomes, resource allocation, requirements, and implementation. Literature shows that it is uncommon for empirical ergonomics and human factors (EHF) research to apply and report the use of any structured stakeholder identification method at all, leading to ad-hoc selections of whom to consider important. Conversely, other research fields offer a plethora of stakeholder identification and analysis methods, few of which seem to have been adopted in the EHF context. This article presents the development of a structured method for identification, classification, and qualitative analysis of stakeholders in EHF-related work system design intervention. It describes the method's EHF-related theoretical underpinnings, lessons learned from four use cases, and the incremental development of the method that has resulted in the current method procedure and visualization aids. The method, called Change Agent Infrastructure (abbreviated CHAI), has a mainly macroergonomic purpose, set on increasing the understanding of sociotechnical interactions that create the conditions for work system design intervention, and facilitating participative efforts.     

Stakeholders, soft systems and technology: separation and mediation in the analysis of information system requirements

This paper describes the application of stakeholder analysis and soft systems thinking for an investigation of information system requirements. It is argued that it is appropriate to approach IS development as an exercise in managing complexity (soft systems) and pluralism (stakeholder analysis). A framework for investigating IS requirements is proposed that contrasts the current situation with the future situation and the real world with conceptual thinking about the real world. These aspects are viewed as outcomes of the process of IS requirements analysis, for which the metaphor of mediation is adopted in preference to presenting requirements analysis as a binary distinction between social construction and objectivity. The IS requirements analysis framework is applied in action research and the findings and learning that arose are presented.     

Stakeholder analysis as a front-end to knowledge elicitation

Knowledge elicitation is one of the more problematic phases of knowledge based systems development. Two specific problems that have received inadequate attention in the literature are the process of expert selection and the use of a broader, socially and politically informed, frame of reference for knowledge elicitation. This paper builds on the few attempts to consider these problems. It contributes to a novel interpretation of the broader knowledge acquisition context using the powerful notion of stakeholders. More specifically, it proposes the application of an interpretive stakeholder analysis approach previously developed in information systems research. It is argued that the identification of knowledge based systems’ and knowledge elicitation stakeholders and the investigation of their viewpoints not only enriches the knowledge elicitation process, it also contributes to a broader understanding of knowledge based systems development.     

Understanding Stakeholder Values as a Means of Dealing with Stakeholder Conflicts

This paper reports on a quantitative study, which examines the link between software characteristics, sought after consequences and personal values in software evaluation, whilst investigating the stakeholders' understanding of software quality. The study involved a survey of 403 subjects, which were then analyzed quantitatively with bi-variate analysis, and multivariate analysis of variance. The research argues that trade-offs in software development projects are often experienced in software development because of conflicts. These conflicts involve schedules, priorities and are very much caused by the different stakeholder views of quality, different desired consequences sought by the different stakeholders and more importantly influenced by the desired values of the different stakeholders. The research finds that different classes of stakeholders have different views of software quality. The research also finds that certain values sought by the stakeholder influences their sought after consequences required in the developed software product. However, it is not just any values that affect the stakeholder, but rather, it is the values affected by the evaluated software, which influences the selection of characteristics and sought after consequences. Values, which are important, but are not affected by software use, do not influence the stakeholder. As such, these results help us gain a better understanding of what types of values influence the choice of characteristics in software evaluation, and the desired consequences in a software product, and why conflicts exist during software development life-cycle. The results provide a number of important insights and suggest several conclusions. The study showed (1) that stakeholders differ in their priorities in the sought after consequences of the software being developed; (2) that the desired values, which are perceived to be affected by the software differ between stakeholders and influence the choice of characteristic and consequence; (3) that the consequence, value relationship as described in the Software Evaluation Framework can be valuable to understand the conflicts and trade-offs fond in software development. Dr. Bernard Wong is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Information Technology at the University of Technology, Sydney in Australia. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Software Engineering, a B.Sc. degree in Computer Science and a M.Com. degree in Information Systems. He is a Certified Quality Analyst (QAI), and a Certified Software Quality Assessor (ISO9000 Auditor). Since 1991, Dr. Wong has been engaged in teaching, research and consulting in the fields of software quality assurance, software engineering, project management, and information systems. During this time he has established new courses in Project Management and Software Quality Assurance. He has supervised many postgraduate research students, and has been a member of many conference and workshop program committees. Dr. Wong has over twenty years of industry experience, where he has worked as a programmer, an analyst/programmer, a systems analyst, a business analyst, a project manager, and as an I.T. trainer. He has consulted to companies large and small, in both the public and private sectors. The commercial exposure has been extremely important to his academic contribution. Not only has it supplied him with many case studies, essential for relevant teaching, it has also been invaluable as a source to his research.     

Beyond exchange models: Understanding the structure of B2B information systems

This paper provides a framework to characterize the structure of information systems that enable transactions between businesses. We propose that the structure of various inter-organizational information systems, including traditional EDI systems and more recent web based exchanges, can be characterized in terms of four underlying dimensions: control, relational support, integration, and technology dimensions. In our paper we explain and operationalize these dimensions as constructs, and examine how each of them might be affected by inter-organizational relationship or product specific antecedents. We argue that these dimensions are fundamental to more realistically representing an organizations involvement with and use of inter-organizational information systems. Further, we argue that specific product types and preexisting relationships between organizations will be strongly associated with the variables representing the dimensions of Inter-organizational information systems.     

Formulating strategies for stakeholder management: a case-based reasoning approach

The management of competing stakeholders has emerged as an important weapon for strategic management. Typically, reactive, defensive, accommodative, or proactive (RDAP) strategies have been employed for getting into the world of stakeholders. This paper proposes a methodology for formulating strategies for stakeholder management by the use of these RDAP strategies. Our methodology consists of four phases: stakeholder analysis, strategy retrieval, strategy revision, and strategy implementation. Strategies are derived on the basis of similar cases stored in case bases. A system called the stakeholder management strategy support system (SMSS) is implemented to put our methodology to work. In order to demonstrate the practical usefulness of this system, Korean Healthcare IT (Information Technology) industry is illustrated. This illustration implies that our methodology is useful, especially in view of dynamic nature of business and its stakeholders. Our methodology will be able to help any business leader create value while navigating a multi-stakeholder environment.     

Information technology for collaborative advantage in healthcare revisited

Interorganizational systems are expected to provide opportunities for various stakeholders, often competitors, to collaborate. At the moment, there is a great need for research evidence on the factors facilitating or impeding the achievement of collaborative advantage between interorganizational systems stakeholders. A recent contribution has been the use of a health-information network case to derive lessons for policy makers in this respect. The development and use of the NHSnet in the United Kingdom provides an opportunity to review these lessons in a different context of health-information exchange. Combined with the use of stakeholder analysis, these lessons can enhance our understanding of the context, the stakeholders involved and affected by the network, their interests and their perceptions of collaborative advantage. It, therefore, provides useful insights in the lessons that healthcare policy makers can apply in the development and use of a collaborative network. Further theoretical and practical research is, however, needed to improve our understanding of success and failure factors for the achievement of collaborative advantage in different environments.     

An integrated assessment approach to conduct analyses of climate change impacts on whole-farm systems

This paper argues that an integrated assessment (IA) approach, combining simulation modelling with deliberative processes involving decision makers and other stakeholders, has the potential to generate credible and relevant assessments of climate change impacts on farming systems. The justification for the approach proposed is that while simulation modelling provides an effective way of exploring the range of possible impacts of climate change and a means of testing the consequences of possible management or policy interventions, the interpretation of the outputs is highly dependent on the point of view of the stakeholder. Inevitably, whatever the responses to climate change, there will be trade-offs between the benefits and costs to a range of stakeholders. The use of a deliberative process that includes stakeholders, both in defining the topics addressed and in debating the interpretations of the outcomes, addresses many of the limitations that have been previously identified in the use of computer-based tools for agricultural decision support. The paper further argues that the concepts of resilience and adaptive capacity are useful for the assessment of climate change impacts as they provide an underpinning theory for processes of change in land use systems. The integrated modelling framework (IMF) developed for the simulation of whole-farm systems is detailed, including components for crop and soil processes, livestock systems and a tool for scheduling of resource use within management plans. The use of the IMF for assessing climate change impacts is then outlined to demonstrate the range of analyses possible. The paper concludes with a critique of the IA approach and notes that issues of quantification and communication of uncertainty are central to the success of the methodology.     

Transforming an enterprise model into a use case model in business process systems

One of the responsibilities of requirements engineering is to transform stakeholder requirements into system and software requirements. For enterprise systems, this transformation must consider the enterprise context where the system will be deployed. Although there are some approaches for detailing stakeholder requirements, some of them even considering the enterprise context, this task is executed manually. Based on model-driven engineering concepts, this study proposes a semi-automatic transformation from an enterprise model to a use case model. The enterprise model is used as a source of information about the stakeholder requirements and domain knowledge, while the use case model is used as software requirements model. This study presents the source and target metamodels, a set of transformation rules, and a tool to support the transformation. An experiment analyzes the use of the proposed transformation to investigate its benefits and if it can be used in practice, from the point of view of students in the context of a requirements refinement. The results indicate that the approach can be used in practice, as it did not influence the quality of the generated use cases. However, the empirical analysis does not indicate benefits of using the transformation, even if the qualitative results were positive.     

Cybercrime: Understanding and addressing the concerns of stakeholders

Cybercrime and cybercriminal activities continue to impact communities as the steady growth of electronic information systems enables more online business. The collective views of sixty-six computer users and organizations, that have an exposure to cybercrime, were analyzed using concept analysis and mapping techniques in order to identify the major issues and areas of concern, and provide useful advice. The findings of the study show that a range of computing stakeholders have genuine concerns about the frequency of information security breaches and malware incursions (including the emergence of dangerous security and detection avoiding malware), the need for e-security awareness and education, the roles played by law and law enforcement, and the installation of current security software and systems. While not necessarily criminal in nature, some stakeholders also expressed deep concerns over the use of computers for cyberbullying, particularly where younger and school aged users are involved. The government’s future directions and recommendations for the technical and administrative management of cybercriminal activity were generally observed to be consistent with stakeholder concerns, with some users also taking practical steps to reduce cybercrime risks.     

Dynamic stakeholder interaction analysis: Innovative smart living design cases

In order to become more innovative, companies that operate in the Smart Living domain increasingly initiate and participate in networked business environments that transcend industry boundaries. Inter-organizational collaboration is often characterized by conflicting strategic interests and incoherent operational business processes and procedures. Although many scholars and practitioners use stakeholder analysis to gain insight into the actors’ relationships and interactions, existing literature on stakeholder analysis focuses mainly on high-level strategic analysis, often limited to a conceptual and static understanding of stakeholder interests. In this paper, it is argued that a ‘true’ understanding of stakeholders can be achieved by looking at their interactions and interdependencies at a more detailed level. This study uses a conceptual framework from the service innovation and business model domain, the VIP framework, to extend stakeholder analysis by including an analysis of their dynamic interactions and processes. The qualitative evaluation of the framework’s application in illustrative design cases shows that this extension provides additional insights into stakeholders, and their potential operational conflicts and critical dependencies. By making these conflicts and interdependencies explicit, products and services are potentially easier to implement and commercialize.     

A novel semi-quantitative Fuzzy Cognitive Map model for complex systems for addressing challenging participatory real life problems

Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCM) are a promising approach for socio-ecological systems modelling. FCMs represent problem knowledge extracted from different stakeholders in the form of connected factors/variables with imprecise cause-effect relationships and many feedback loops. These typically large maps are condensed and aggregated to obtain a summary view of the system. However, representation, condensation and aggregation of previous FCM models are qualitative due to lack of appropriate quantitative methods. This study tackles these drawbacks by developing a semi-quantitative FCM model consisting of robust methods for adequately and accurately representing and manipulating imprecise data describing a complex problem involving stakeholders for pragmatic decision making. The model starts with collecting qualitative imprecise data from relevant stakeholders. These data are then transformed into stakeholder perceptions/FCMs with different causal relationship formats (linguistic or numeric) which the proposed model then represents in a unified format using a 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic representation model which allows combining imprecise linguistic and numeric values with different granularity and/or semantic without loss of information. The proposed model then condenses large FCMs using a semi-quantitative method that allows multi-level condensation. In each level of condensation, groups of similar variables are subjectively condensed and the corresponding imprecise connections are computationally condensed using robust calculations involving credibility weights assigned to variables (variables’ importance). The model then uses a quantitative fuzzy method to aggregate perceptions/FCMs into a stakeholder group or social perception/FCM based on the 2-tuple model and credibility weights assigned to FCMs (stakeholders’ importance). Thereafter, the structure of produced FCMs is analysed using graph theory indices to examine differences in perceptions between stakeholders or groups. Finally, the model applies various what-if policy scenario simulations on group FCMs using a dynamical systems approach with neural networks and analyses scenario outcomes to provide appropriate recommendations to decision makers. An example application illustrates method’s effectiveness and usefulness.     

Requirements determination for common systems: turning a global vision into a local reality

A ‘common’ information system is one that is intended to satisfy the needs of multiple user groups within a firm for a particular functionality (e.g. one order entry system to be used by all divisions of a global firm). Such systems are often comprised of both core (or common) software modules, as well as local modules to support regional requirements. One of the most significant challenges for any information systems (IS) project is determining information requirements. The requirements determination process is especially difficult in this context in which common, global requirements must be forged from disparate, and potentially conflicting, local needs and priorities. This paper reports on case studies of two projects undertaken to globally deploy common systems, and it develops a model of the requirements determination process. The proposed model posits stakeholders engage in knowledge acquisition and negotiation processes in order to determine global requirements as well as to foster consensus and buy-in, on the part of the local regional stakeholders, to the global system. The findings also suggest that knowledge acquisition is a relatively structured, rational approach to learning about local needs and requirements, where stakeholders share an awareness of the corporate vision for global standards and agree on the need for a new system. Negotiation, in contrast, is less structured and more political, with different parties lobbying for their own interests as they endeavor to identify common requirements for the new global system. Finally, the results suggest that the requirements determination process is influenced by an articulated corporate vision for a global system, needs and priorities of the local regions, and the organizational roles and skills of key stakeholders. Implications of the results are drawn and suggestions for future research are offered.     

Participatory floodplain management in the Red River Basin, Canada

Floodplain management is a subject in which everyone in the floodplain is a stakeholder. Real participation only takes place when stakeholders are part of the decision-making process. This can occur directly when local communities come together to make floodplain management choices or if democratically elected or otherwise accountable agencies or groups can represent stakeholders. Real participation is more than consultation and requires that stakeholders at all levels of the social structure have an impact on decisions at different levels of floodplain management. A participatory approach is the only means for achieving long-lasting consensus and common agreement. However, for this to occur, stakeholders and officials from water management agencies have to recognize that the sustainability of floodplain management decisions is a common problem and that all parties are going to have to sacrifice some desires for the common good. There is common responsibility for making participation possible. This involves (a) the creation of mechanisms for stakeholder consultation at various scales (from local, over watershed to national) and (b) the creation of participatory capacity, particularly amongst marginalized social groups. This may include awareness raising, confidence building and education, as well as the provision of the economic resources needed to facilitate participation and the establishment of good and transparent sources of information.

This work focuses on the methodology for stakeholder participation in floodplain management. Floodplain management problems are characterized by multiple objectives and large number of stakeholders. The solution methodologies adapted for multi-criteria multi participant decision problems are generally based on aggregation of decisions obtained for individual decision makers. This approach seems somewhat inadequate when the number of stakeholders is very large. We have developed a methodology to include the views of multiple stakeholders using fuzzy set theory and fuzzy logic. Three possible different response types: scale (crisp), linguistic (fuzzy), and conditional (fuzzy) are analyzed to obtain the resultant input by using Fuzzy Expected Value. Fuzzy Expected Value input is used with the multi-criteria decision-making tool named Fuzzy Compromise Programming.

The methodology has been applied to floodplain management in the Red River Basin, Canada that faces periodical flooding. We have demonstrated that the empowerment of stakeholders can improve the floodplain management process and provide decisions acceptable to a wider group of stakeholders.     

Understanding governance,risk and compliance information systems (GRC IS): The experts view

Although Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) is an emerging field of study within the information systems (IS) academic community, the concept behind the acronym has to still be demystified and further investigated. The study investigates GRC systems in depth by (a) reviewing the literature on existing GRC studies, and (b) presenting a field study on views about GRC application by professional experts. The aim of this exploratory study is to understand the aspects and the nature of the GRC system following an enterprise systems approach. The result of this study is a framework of particular GRC characteristics that need to be taken into consideration when these systems are put in place. This framework includes specific areas such as: goals and objectives, purpose of the system, key stakeholders, methodology and requirements prior to implementation, critical success factors and problems/barriers. Further discussion about the issues, the concerns and the diverse views on GRC would assist in developing an agenda for the future research on the GRC field.     

An Advanced Trusted Platform for mobile phone devices

The intent of trusted computing is to ensure that an information-processing device functions according to expectations. If the device has been designed to offer security protections, then it is reasonable for these expectations to include some assurance that the device will protect the security interests of the device's stakeholders. In the case of mobile phones, there are many different stakeholders that have diverse security interests. This paper discusses stakeholder interests in a mobile phone, describes how those interests are addressed using the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) specified by the Trusted Computing Group (TCG), and explains how improved protections are provided using the Freescale Advanced Trusted Platform (ATP).