scholarly journals A design science approach to developing and evaluating items for the assessment of transversal professional competences

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Fahrenbach

PurposeRelying on a design science paradigm, the purpose of this paper is to describe the development and evaluation of items for an ICT artefact that supports the assessment of transversal professional competences within the validation of prior learning (VPL). To do so, the authors build a conceptual bridge between the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) and the European Qualifications Framework (EQF).Design/methodology/approachDesign science research paradigm, in particular the participatory development of candidate items and their evaluation in a multi-stakeholder approach.FindingsThe authors find that a self-assessment of professional competences should be comprised of 160 items in order to cover the breadth and depth of the O*NET in the hierarchical taxonomy. Such quantity of items sufficiently builds a conceptual bridge between the O*NET and the; EQF.Practical implicationsWhen designing procedures for the VPL, it is imperative to bear in mind the purpose of the validation procedure, in order to determine relevant stakeholders and their needs in advance as well as the; required language proficiency of the assessment instrument.Social implicationsThe innovative value of this approach lies in the combination of an underlying hierarchical taxonomy with assessment items that are developed based on the qualification standards of different Austrian professions. Together with specific verbs that were adapted for each particular item, an innovative self-assessment is proposed. Thereby the authors aim to account for some of the mentioned shortcomings of the EQF.Originality/valueThis paper applies a design science paradigm to develop an ICT artefact that should support the VPL. By reflecting on the design process, the authors introduce a theoretical bridge between the O*NET and the EQF. Thereby the authors aim to account for some of the mentioned shortcomings of the EQF.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bayu Rima Aditya ◽  
Ridi Ferdiana ◽  
Sri Suning Kusumawardani

PurposeExisting literature has reported a barrier list that could affect the implementation of digital transformation in higher education, yet the research question of how to identify barriers remained unanswered. Thus, this study intended to address this gap.Design/methodology/approachThe research design adopted a mixed-methods approach based on the problem-centered design science research (DSR) process model for the development and evaluation of framework.FindingsThis study proposed a systematic framework of three sets of components: (1) the initial set of barriers; (2) the barrier rating scheme and (3) the barrier scoring matrix. The three-component of the framework is to identify and prioritize barriers to the successful implementation of digital transformation in higher education.Research limitations/implicationsThe evaluation of the framework was only based on an expert opinion.Practical implicationsThis study provided a direction to the policymakers for designing sensible strategies to increase the chances of a successful digital transformation in higher education.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the knowledge body by offering a more systematic understanding of barriers to digital transformation in higher education.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Bagni ◽  
Juliana Keiko Sagawa ◽  
Moacir Godinho Filho

PurposeThis paper aims to detail how a Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process can be designed to support the planning requirements of recently introduced products.Design/methodology/approachDesign science research was conducted to propose and implement an S&OP model for demand fulfillment after the introduction of new products. The results were analyzed using the CIMO (Context, Intervention, Mechanisms and Outcomes) logic, and two sets of design propositions were formulated.FindingsAn S&OP process for new products can reduce additional costs for market fulfillment by concentrating the planning efforts on new products, aligning organizational efforts, and increasing the sales and supply chain information’s update frequency.Research limitations/implicationsThe outcomes of S&OP new products were analyzed in a single organization and are limited to the contextual factors presented.Practical implicationsThis paper describes in detail how to organize an S&OP focused on new products. By considering the contextual factors and design propositions, managers can potentially increase the success of new products introduction (NPI) in their context.Originality/valueA specific S&OP process focused on new products is a viable solution and could co-exist with a traditional S&OP process. Moreover, we identified six contextual factors that influence the outcomes of the S&OP new products.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Ângelo ◽  
João Barata

Purpose Legionnaires’ disease is a major threat to public health. Solutions to deal with this problem are usually siloed and not entirely effective. This paper aims to model the information requirements of legionella-safe cooling towers in the era of Industry 4.0. Design/methodology/approach A year-long design science research was conducted in a cooling tower producer for heavy industries. The project started with a bibliometric analysis and literature review of legionella in cooling towers. Goal modeling techniques are then used to identify the requirements for digital transformation. Findings The improvement of legionella prevention, detection and outbreak response in digitally enabled cooling tower should involve different stakeholders. Digital twins and blockchain are disruptive technologies that can transform the cooling tower industry. Originality/value For theory, this study revises the most recent advances in legionella protection. Legionella-safe systems must be prepared to anticipate, monitor and immediate alert in case of an outbreak. For practice, this paper presents a distributed and digital architecture for cooling tower safety. However, technology is only a part of outbreak management solutions, requiring trustworthy conditions and real-time communication among stakeholders.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Henrico Plantinga ◽  
Hans Voordijk ◽  
André Dorée

Purpose The development of innovative procurement instruments can be costly and risky. To capitalize on successful innovative instruments, it is essential that these are reused. However, reuse can be problematic in project-based public client organizations. This paper aims to apply the ambidexterity concept of integration mechanisms to examine how such reuse can be facilitated. Design/methodology/approach An initial framework is developed to conceptualize and contextualize the ambidexterity integration mechanism for the procurement function of a multi-project public client. Concluding that, in this situation, an organizational procedure is an appropriate interpretation of the integration mechanism, a design science project is carried out to develop and implement a procedure in a real-life setting. Findings Reconstructed reuse patterns confirm the need to have an actionable integration mechanism implemented. Integration, in the sense of drawing benefits from successful one-off innovative procurement instruments, may fail unnoticed if not organized and deliberately managed. The procedure developed in the design science project demonstrates how such integration can be achieved. Originality/value Although research on ambidexterity has grown exponentially in the past decade, it is yet to be applied in the field of public procurement. Furthermore, the application of design science research is novel in this field of literature. The paper illustrates how both can help solve a relevant organizational problem.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-244
Author(s):  
João Serrado ◽  
Ruben Filipe Pereira ◽  
Miguel Mira da Silva ◽  
Isaías Scalabrin Bianchi

Purpose Data can nowadays be seen as the main asset of organizations and data leaks have a considerable impact on the organization’s image, revenues and possible consequences to the affected clients. One of the most critical industries is the bank. Information security frameworks (ISF) have been created to assist organizations and other frameworks evolved to update these domain practices. Recently, the European Union decided to create the general data protection regulation (GDPR), applicable to all organizations dealing with personal data of citizens residing in the European Union. Although considered a general regulation, GDPR implementation needs to align with some industries’ laws and policies. Especially in the Bank industry. How these ISF can assist the implementation of GDPR is not clear. Design/methodology/approach The design science research process was followed and semi-structured interviews performed. Findings A list of practices to assist the bank industry in GDPR implementation is provided. How each practice map with assessed ISF and GDPR requirements is also presented. Research limitations/implications As GDPR is a relatively recent subject, it is hard to find experts in the area. It is more difficult if the authors intend to find experienced people in the GDPR and bank industry. That is one of the main reasons this study does not include more interviews. Originality/value This research provides a novel artefact to the body of knowledge. The proposed artefact lists which ISF practices banks should implement to comply with GDPR. By doing it the artefact provides a centralized view about which ISF frameworks (or part of them) could be implemented to help banks comply with GDPR.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 570-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo Pieter Wouda ◽  
Raymond Opdenakker

Purpose The transaction process of an office building is known to be time consuming and inefficient, in part due to the lack of market transparency. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the development of a blockchain application that can improve the transaction process of office buildings in the Netherlands. Design/methodology/approach Conducting design science research, the current transaction process of an office building and status quo of blockchain technology in real estate is investigated. Subsequently, multiple parties are interviewed to define major pain points within the process. The interview findings are used to design a blockchain solution which overcomes the aforementioned pain points. After designing, the interviewees are asked again to pragmatically validate the proposed model. Findings One of the major pain points identified concerning the transaction process of an office building is that it is difficult to define the characteristics of a property, due to lack of data structure and quality. The proposed application improves the way specific assets are understood by structuring physical and contractual information in one place and guarantees the quality of the data by using the blockchain mechanisms. Practical implications A blockchain application is proposed, which can improve the transaction process of an office building. Originality/value Recent studies indicate that blockchain technology could lead to improvements in efficiency, transparency and therefore trust within the transaction process. Therefore, the proposed application is of value for the future of real estate data management and the transaction process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 831-854
Author(s):  
Dina Elikan ◽  
Yves Pigneur

Purpose Being able to communicate a clear identity to different stakeholders is crucial for SMEs and startups in today’s world, which is characterised by accelerated innovation, growing competition and increasingly connected consumers. However, this can be a complex task for small organisations. The purpose of this paper is to propose a visual tool that supports entrepreneurs in SMEs and startups to collaboratively develop their identity communication strategy. Design/methodology/approach The paper follows a design science research approach. The authors propose the design of a tool as well as some preliminary qualitative evaluations. The authors conducted three iterations between design and evaluation, where the results of the evaluations are implemented in the design. Findings The authors demonstrate how to design strategic tools for allowing teams to co-design their identity communication strategy and present the tool. The authors also evaluate its use and find out through the preliminary evaluations that it could be easy to use and useful for practitioners. Originality/value The originality of this paper lays in the novelty of the tool and its development. Such a tool addressing identity communication strategy has not been developed with a scientific approach until now.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuad Sameh Alshraiedeh ◽  
Norliza Katuk

Purpose Many REpresentational State Transfer (RESTful) Web services suffered from anti-patterns problem, which may diminish the sustainability of the services. The anti-patterns problem could happen in the code of the programme or the uniform resource identifiers (URIs) of RESTful Web services. This study aims to address the problem by proposing a technique and an algorithm for detecting anti-patterns in RESTful Web services. Specifically, the technique is designed based on URIs parsing process. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted following the design science research process, which has six activities, namely, identifying problems, identifying solutions, design the solutions, demonstrate the solution, evaluation and communicate the solution. The proposed technique was embedded in an algorithm and evaluated in four phases covering the process of extracting the URIs, implementing the anti-pattern detection algorithm, detecting the anti-patterns and validating the results. Findings The results of the study suggested an acceptable level of accuracy for the anti-patterns detection with 82.30% of precision, 87.86% of recall and 84.93% of F-measure. Practical implications The technique and the algorithm can be used by developers of RESTful Web services to detect possible anti-pattern occurrences in the service-based systems. Originality/value The technique is personalised to detect amorphous URI and ambiguous name anti-patterns in which it scans the Web service URIs using specified rules and compares them with pre-determined syntax and corpus.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Giesbrecht ◽  
Birgit Schenk ◽  
Gerhard Schwabe

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the face-to-face citizen service encounter in public administrations’ front offices, and present a novel qualification approach to empower service personnel on-the-job, and thereby deepen the knowledge on the role of information and communication technology for advancing governmental reforms. Design/methodology/approach – The presented study follows a design science research methodology, conducted in collaboration with the public administration of a major German city. Data were collected using multiple quantitative and qualitative methods, including questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and video analysis. Findings – A novel on-the-job qualification approach for empowering public employees in their job-related skills, building on the concept of affordances, is developed. Thereto, six design principles for equipping artifacts with counseling affordances are presented. Evaluations in real-world environments provide first evidence that “learning with counseling affordances” constitutes an effective qualification measure to initiate experiential learning on-the-job, helping employees in the resource-restricted work environment of public front offices to obtain the skills to provide superior advisory services. Research limitations/implications – The “learning with counseling affordances” approach was developed in collaboration with an individual major German city and the paper provides first evidence of its effectiveness and suitability. Hence, the study’s insights should be approved by further research to strengthen generalizability. Originality/value – The paper highlights the previously neglected aspects of employee’s skills and qualification for promoting governmental transformation. By highlighting the beneficial relationship between affordances and on-the-job learning, the paper provides novel insights on the role of information and communication technology to promote governmental transformation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1224-1256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto dos Santos Rocha ◽  
Marcelo Fantinato ◽  
Lucinéia Heloisa Thom ◽  
Marcelo Medeiros Eler

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the proposal of a Product Line (PL)-based approach for Business Process Management (BPM) projects that cover the entire BPM lifecycle and proposes integrating it with dynamic techniques still not used together. Design/methodology/approach – The authors carried out this work using the design science research methodology. The authors assessed the proposed approach using a classification procedure created through a series of specific attributes, which enables a comparison of the proposed integrated approach with related works selected from a systematic literature review. Findings – The comparative assessment has shown that the proposed approach presents the most comprehensive solution than any other similar one suggested for the same purpose, mainly in terms of the coverage of the entire BPM lifecycle and dynamic techniques. Research limitations/implications – Due to the high-level conceptual nature of the proposed approach, the authors could not evaluate it also in terms of some controlled experiment or a case study. Originality/value – The proposed approach aims at improving the management of business processes in organizations in a systematic way using concepts and techniques that exist in other areas, but not widely used together yet, such as BPM, service-oriented computing, and Software PL.


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