Edispuut Meeting Rotterdam

Description:
EDIT 21/04/2006: Just for the sake of completeness: the program was updated the day before the meeting to include an ERIM research seminar by Prof. Carol Saunders. See the attachment for the final program.
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I am happy to announce the next Edispuut Meeting, which will be held at Rotterdam School of Management, Monday April 10, 12:30h - 17:15. The program is as follows:
12:30 - 13:00 lunch and walk-in
13:00 - 14:00 Zsofia Dersi (VU): Towards the Design of Networked Value Constellations: A Framework for Business/IT Alignment
14:00 - 14:30 Presentation by Prof. Dr. Ir. Eric van Heck
14:30 - 14:45 short break
14:45 - 15:45 Jaro Spirco (TUD): Achieving Flexibility of Information Systems
15:45 - 16:00 short break
16:00 - 17:00 Michel Ehrenhard (UT): A Reprise of Bureaucratic Culture and Informatization
17:00 - 17:15 remaining questions, arrangement of new meeting data and appoint organizer.
17:15 - ..:.. Have some drinks and possibly Dinner in a local café or restaurant
(for abstracts see below)
The meeting will be held at EUR room T3-42 (T-building third floor, room 42). (please note that RSM has moved to a different building on the campus since the past Edispuut-meetings)
Directions and a campus map can be found at::
http://www.rsm.nl/portal/page?_pageid=133,2504289&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
http://www.rsm.nl/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/IMAGES/CAMPUS/WOUDESTEIN.JPG
Please let us know in advance if you are planning on coming.
Best Regards,
Jeffrey Gortmaker
Abstracts:
Zsofia Dersi (VU): Towards the Design of Networked Value Constellations: A Framework for Business/IT Alignment
IT-intensive services are specific set of services; they rely heavily on IT for production and provision. Moreover, they are often offered and maintained by a so-called networked value constellation of enterprises rather than just one single enterprise. A question is then how to properly align these enterprises, such that the provision for customers is feasible. Additionally, because these services rely so heavily on IT, aligning business (essentially the service) with IT is also of an importance. In the presentation, I introduce an initial framework that can be used to structure various alignment questions that pop-up while designing networked value constellations. I illustrate the framework by a small example.
Jaro Spirco (TUD): Achieving Flexibility of Information Systems
Organizations increasingly depend on the information systems to operate. The demand towards these systems, however, changes dramatically over time. In the face of new demands, there is a need to adapt the system or replace it. This presentation proposes a framework towards the design of flexible information systems which can be easily adapted to changing circumstances. The main assumption is that certain standards (technological specifications) can encrease system flexibility. Such issues like complexity, public values, flexibility and security of supply are being discussed.
Michel Ehrenhard (UT): A Reprise of Bureaucratic Culture and Informatization
Already in 1989 Paul Frissen published his dissertation on the meaning of informatization for the culture of a government organization. Since then it has been awfully quiet in this field. One of his conclusions was that IT further strengthened Weber's iron cage of instrumental rationality. Ironically, since a decade or so, attempts are made to make government organizations more results-oriented as opposed to the rule and procedure bound Weberian bureaucracies. How will the demand for performance information and transparency affect the culture of a government organization? In this presentation I will describe our theoretical approach, the background of the change process, and the research methods we are planning to deploy.