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1 – 10 of over 17000Olga Godlevskaja, Jos van Iwaarden and Ton van der Wiele
This paper aims to propose a framework that can be used for analysing services in the automotive industry.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose a framework that can be used for analysing services in the automotive industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Existing categorisation schemes for services are investigated and evaluated in terms of their applicability to services in the automotive industry.
Findings
Services categorisation schemes are grouped under eight service paradigms, expressing the understanding that various authors had about services in different times and contexts.
Research limitations/implications
The remarks are limited to the automotive industry.
Practical implications
The paper suggests services classification schemes, which can be effectively applied to automotive services in order to generate valuable managerial insights.
Originality/value
This paper provides an overview over multiple services categorisation schemes existing in the literature.
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Choon Seong Leem, Hyung Sik Suh and Dae Seong Kim
Although there have been a lot of studies on mobile business, it is hard to find ones in which an integrated perspective of mobile business based on both customers’ and companies’…
Abstract
Although there have been a lot of studies on mobile business, it is hard to find ones in which an integrated perspective of mobile business based on both customers’ and companies’ needs is suggested. This research develops a mobile business model classification scheme and applies it to analysis of current status in mobile business. In the first case study on 65 firms in Korea, mobile solutions are categorized based on the classification scheme in order to analyze an overall market environment of mobile business. In the second case study on mobile service trend analysis, a set of evaluation indices including four general indices, ten effectiveness indices and 13 measurement indices were developed to analyze mobile service environment in the perspective of B2C (business to customer). For the second case study, 200 mobile heavy users were questioned on the mobile service‐related issues.
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Developing a library while developing oneself is both an enviable and an alarming experience. This case study is valuable for two reasons: first because it is a uniquely realistic…
Abstract
Developing a library while developing oneself is both an enviable and an alarming experience. This case study is valuable for two reasons: first because it is a uniquely realistic blow‐by‐blow description of the upgrading of a poorly organised, under‐resourced, industrial library. As such, it contains useful practical guidance for the many librarians who have similar problems to contend with. Second, and perhaps even more important, because so rare, is the critical and evaluative attitude taken throughout the report. The author identifies his own mistakes, as well as his successes. The report covers the adoption of new information retrieval systems; the devising of a new issue system for a split‐site library; developing periodicals circulation; evaluation of collection use and relevance; proposing the introduction of on‐line services — against a background of financial stringency and entrenched bureaucracy. The author also evaluates his own performance and the training he received, in his first year of running a one‐person library.
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This paper aims to present the Business Classification Scheme used by the Directorate General Environment of the European Commission.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present the Business Classification Scheme used by the Directorate General Environment of the European Commission.
Design/methodology/approach
The classification was developed following the functional methodology commonly recommended by existing records management guidelines and standards.
Findings
The outcome of the analysis is a double classification system that has been represented in a table. At the end level, the classes of both classifications coincide to define the same individual transactions. One of the classifications defines them as sub‐types of business activities and the other as the subjects or field of application of business operations.
Practical implications
The scheme reflects the different points of view that horizontal and line units have over the same groups of documents. In this sense, it facilitates document sharing and collaboration. It also promotes the organisation of records into similar types of files and, in so doing, facilitates management operations.
Originality/value
The table format gives visibility to the relations between transversal processes and business areas that constitute the activities of an organisation. These cannot be represented in a linear classification.
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Peta Ifould and Pauline Joseph
The purpose of this paper is to provide a unique perspective into user difficulties working with the functional business classification scheme (BCS) to register, search and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a unique perspective into user difficulties working with the functional business classification scheme (BCS) to register, search and retrieve corporate information at the Western Australia Police (WA Police).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a single case study. Questionnaire and interview data were collected and analysed from a sample of ten EDRMS users on their perspectives of working with the BCS. An interpretive analysis methodology was used, and inductive reasoning was used for thematic analysis and sense making of the textual data from the transcripts.
Findings
Although the research participants were confident working with the BCS, they reported difficulties finding an appropriate folder that matched the information to be classified and deciding where to file the information. Participants reported that the design and structure of the BCS and training were identified as areas needing improvement.
Research limitations/implications
Paradigm shifts in the record-keeping role from the professional to the user may have some bearing on the difficulties users face when dealing with their record-keeping responsibilities. The participants provided comments and suggestions for how to make the BCS more user-friendly, more meaningful and more aligned to the business processes of the users that are practicable and workable solutions for the records professionals to implement.
Practical implications
This paper provides a unique user perspective of a BCS, their difficulties working with it and how these difficulties can be resolved in a government organisation.
Originality/value
This paper provides a unique user perspective of a BCS, their difficulties working with it and how these difficulties can be resolved in a government organisation.
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The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of studies conducted during the period 1986‐2010 in 75 Icelandic organizations on how employees classified or did not classify…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of studies conducted during the period 1986‐2010 in 75 Icelandic organizations on how employees classified or did not classify information and records.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative methodology was used, involving open‐ended interviews, participant observations and internal documentary material.
Findings
The studies revealed that very few of the organizations used a functional classification scheme (FCS) organization‐wide to classify records when the data collection took place. When FCS was not used, records were variably stored unclassified or were classified by the employees according to individualistic schemes made up by themselves. It was further discovered that influential factors in a successful implementation of FCS were user participation in designing FCS, proper training and top management support in its use.
Practical implications
The findings could be practical for organizations that intend to improve information and records management and to maximize efficient retrieval of records for business and legal purposes. They could be a starting point in successful introduction of FCS in organizations, both in Iceland and abroad.
Originality/value
There is a lack of systematic analysis of studies on classification of records and FCS, not only in Iceland but in other countries as well. The findings provide new knowledge on how employees classify or do not classify records and use or do not use FCS and of which are the most influential factors in a successful implementation of such schemes.
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This work aims to draw attention to information retrieval philosophies and techniques allied to the records management profession, advocating a wider professional consideration of…
Abstract
Purpose
This work aims to draw attention to information retrieval philosophies and techniques allied to the records management profession, advocating a wider professional consideration of a functional approach to information management, in this instance in the development of information architecture.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws from a hypothesis originally presented by the author that advocated a viewpoint whereby the application of records management techniques, traditionally applied to develop business classification schemes, was offered as an additional solution to organising information resources and services (within a university intranet), where earlier approaches, notably subject‐ and administrative‐based arrangements, were found to be lacking. The hypothesis was tested via work‐based action learning and is presented here as an extended case study. The paper also draws on evidence submitted to the Joint Information Systems Committee in support of the University of Abertay Dundee's application for consideration for the JISC award for innovation in records and information management.
Findings
The original hypothesis has been tested in the workplace. Information retrieval techniques, allied to records management (functional classification), were the main influence in the development of pre‐ and post‐coordinate information retrieval systems to support a wider information architecture, where the subject approach was found to be lacking. Their use within the workplace has since been extended.
Originality/value
The paper advocates that the development of information retrieval as a discipline should include a wider consideration of functional classification, as this alternative to the subject approach is largely ignored in mainstream IR works.
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Pekka Henttonen and Kimmo Kettunen
This paper seeks to examine how an electronic records management system has been used in a Finnish government agency. In particular, it aims to study the relationship between…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to examine how an electronic records management system has been used in a Finnish government agency. In particular, it aims to study the relationship between functional classification scheme and the way users in different organisational units and at different organisational levels have employed the system. The goal is to examine whether electronic records management systems were easier to use if the system “knew” what functional classes the user (or other employees in the user's organisational unit) typically need in their work.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on two sources. The first source is metadata in records that were captured in the electronic records management system of the agency. It reflects actual behaviour of users when they interact with the system and classification of records. The second source is distribution of functions to organisational units in the light of policy documents and a survey made in the organisation. The study compares the two sources to see how the users have employed the electronic records management system in their work and how this relates to organisational structure and supposed usage of the system.
Findings
In general, individual employees employ only a small part of the classification. However, this does not apply at a higher level in the organisational hierarchy: the higher the person's position in the hierarchy, the more classes he/she is likely to use in the work. Regardless of the position, the classes are generally those identified as belonging to the employee's unit.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on one agency with a functional organisational structure. The findings may not apply to organisations where job descriptions are fluid. They should also be tested in more complex organisational settings. One could develop new methods of automated classification which combine analysis of document content with contextual reasoning about the likely functional classes.
Practical implications
Access to electronic records management systems could be facilitated by creating in systems user/unit profiles defining what functional classes the user is most likely to need in their work. It would also be useful if systems simply remembered what functional classes the user has needed in the past.
Originality/value
The study offers insight into how an electronic records management system is used in an organisation. This is valuable for companies developing records management software and persons trying to gain a deeper understanding of records management in organisations.
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The purpose of this paper is to share personal experience on the early stages of taxonomy construction, reflecting on the potential role of contextual classification techniques as…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to share personal experience on the early stages of taxonomy construction, reflecting on the potential role of contextual classification techniques as applied by the records management profession as a tool in effectively organising information, resources and services within intranet and/or portal environments. The paper also aims to assess the additional benefits to be secured where linking content to business purposes can create or reveal new meaning.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on experience, personal opinion, published literature and discussions with peers to assess the applicability of contextual classification as a tool to support taxonomy development.
Findings
The paper concludes that classification of information, resources and services within intranet and/or portal environments using a citation order of function, activity, task, sub‐task is likely to be of significant value, requiring further investigation to fully assess impact and applicability. Contextual classification receives much discussion in general records management terms, however its applicability in supporting portal and/or intranet development appears to receive little attention. The requirement to generate improvements in information retrieval from a host of on‐line services (of which taxonomy development is one example) is reinvigorating the role of the informational professional. Given the criticality of improving the management and retrieval of information it is desirable that stronger interdisciplinary links are established across the information profession to further develop “information retrieval” as a subject discipline.
Originality/value
The article suggests that the role of contextual classification to organise information, resources and services within intranets/portals requires further investigation and reflection to assess its applicability, value and impact. Initial findings and reflection of the application of contextual classification in the design of elements of a university portal taxonomy have proven to be successful, suggesting that wider discussion and reflection is now required. It is also suggested that the information profession take steps to build stronger interdisciplinary links to advance the development of information retrieval as a subject discipline.
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The purpose of this paper is to highlight the problems of using metadata to file electronic documents as well as the problems of using a purely functional filing scheme. It aims…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the problems of using metadata to file electronic documents as well as the problems of using a purely functional filing scheme. It aims to explore how a functional file plan can be created from a business classification scheme by inserting “metadata signpost folders” at strategic points in the filing hierarchy to create a “hybrid functional file plan”.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on experience and published literature to discuss methods for creating a hybrid functional file plan.
Findings
The paper concludes that functional filing is the only method of filing e‐documents that can effectively support good information management practice, enabling all e‐documents to be managed in line with corporate information management policies, and that it may also be the only viable method of providing true “shared” filing in support of knowledge management and business efficiency.
Originality/value
The article shows that a functional filing scheme, retrieving, cross‐referencing and grouping documents by subject (or other metadata attributes) requires special measures and suggests that current IT, EDRM and related technologies may not fully meet the requirements by searching/sorting on metadata terms. It may be necessary to compromise a purely functional file plan by the inclusion of metadata “signpost” folders into the functional folder structure in order to create a hybrid functional file plan.
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