Suchergebnisse

Most public policy problems are 'wicked', being characterised by high complexity, many heterogeneous views and conflicts among various stakeholders. Therefore citizens interested to participate in such debates in order to be sufficiently informed should study large amounts of relevant material, such as reports, laws, committees' minutes, etc., which are in legalistic or in other specialist languages, or very often their substance is hidden in political rhetoric, putting barriers to a meaningful participation. In this paper we present the results of the research we have conducted for addressing this problem through the use of 'Computer Supported Argument Visualization' (CSAV) methods for supporting and enhancing e-participation in the legislation formation process. This approach has been implemented in a pilot e-participation project and then evaluated using both quantitative and qualitative methods based on the 'Technology Acceptance Model' (TAM), with positive results. Based on the conclusions of this evaluation an enrichment of the IBIS framework has been developed for improving the visualization of legal documents. © 2009 Springer.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate and compare the moderating effects of the two basic business process change paradigms – business process reengineering (BPR) and total quality management (TQM) – on the business value generated for firms by their information and communication technologies (ICT) investment.Design/methodology/approachUsing data collected through a survey of 271 Greek firms, moderated regression models founded on the Cobb‐Douglas production function are estimated, which have as the dependent variable the firm value added (objective measure of business performance), and as independent variables the yearly labour expenses, the value of the non‐computer capital, the value of the computer capital and BPR (TQM) measures.FindingsFrom the above models it is concluded that both BPR and TQM have considerable positive moderating effects of a similar magnitude on the relationship between ICT investment and firm value added. Also, different BPR and TQM activities have different moderating effects on ICT business value; process simplification, process improvement and the creation of a horizontal interdepartmental process are the BPR activities with the largest moderating effects, while measurement of employee satisfaction and simplification of work methods for quality improvement are the TQM activities with the largest moderating effects.Research limitations/applicationsThe basic limitation of this study is that it is based on data from Greek firms. Another limitation is that only one business performance measure, although quite important and theoretically fundamental (i.e. firm value added), is used.Practical implicationsBoth BPR and TQM are important ICT "complementary factors", which, if combined with ICT, can increase the business value it generates. Therefore ICT should not be used simply as a tool for automating existing business processes, but for creating and supporting new business processes and practices, such BPR and TQM.Originality/valueThis study investigates and compares the moderating effects of the two main business process paradigms – BPR and TQM – based on reliable measurement of both through validated multi‐item scales, and also on theoretically sound models, founded on the Cobb‐Douglas production function.

This paper describes a methodology for the systematic exploitation of the emerging web 2.0 social media by government organizations in the processes of public policies formulation, aiming to enhance e-participation, in combination with established simulation modeling techniques and tools. It is based on the concept of 'Policy Gadget' (Padget), which is a micro web application combining a policy message with underlying group knowledge in social media (in the form of content and user activities) and interacting with citizens in popular web 2.0 locations in order to get and convey their input to policy makers. Such 'Padgets' are created by a central platform-toolset and then deployed in many different Web 2.0 media. Citizens input from them will be used in various simulation modeling techniques and tools (such as the 'Systems Dynamics'), which are going to simulate different policy options and estimate their outcomes and effectiveness. A use case scenario of the proposed methodology is presented, which outlines how it can be used in 'real life' public policy design problems. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.