- F. Kramer, N. Jamous, and K. Turowski, „Strategic System Landscape Engineering for SMEs,“ in Umweltinformationssysteme – definition, bedeutung und konzeption, H. Arndt, Ed., Aachen: Shaker, 2013, vol. 3, pp. 117-122.
[Bibtex]@InCollection{Kra13d, Title = {{Strategic System Landscape Engineering for SMEs}}, Author = {Frederik Kramer and Naoum Jamous and Klaus Turowski}, Booktitle = {Umweltinformationssysteme - Definition, Bedeutung und Konzeption}, Publisher = {Shaker}, Year = {2013}, Address = {Aachen}, Editor = {Hans-Knudt Arndt}, Pages = {117-122}, Series = {MIS Schriftenreihe}, Volume = {3}, Abstract = {Despite the recent news about mergers, failures and the astonishing growth of huge enterprises, Small and Mediumsized Enterprises (SMEs) account for a considerable share of Europe's economy. According to the European definition, SMEs are companies that have less than 250 fulltime employees, less or equal to € 50 Mil. turnover, and a balance sheet total of less or equal to € 43 Mil. SMEs reflect more than 98% of Europe’s enterprises with 92.2% of them employing less than 10 people [1]. These companies are the powerful “backbone of the European Economy” [p.9, 1]. Throughout the EU’s27 member states, SMEs account for 67% of the total employment and 58% of the gross value added (GVA) [1]. There are performance differences amongst SMEs in the 27 EU member states. Although the economic crisis hampered SMEs throughout Europe, only Germany, Austria and Malta have exceeded their 2008 precrisis GVA and employment values. Finland, Belgium, France and Luxembourg returned to precrisis values and the remaining 20 member states have not yet been able to catch up. The European Commission in their 2011/2012 annual report on SMEs identified factors that seem to be a precondition for fast recovery after a crisis. They identified strong “hightech and medium hightech manufacturing and knowledgeintensive services” industries as key drivers for fast recovery [1]. Additionally, they found evidences that labor productivity levels were higher when the companies were serving in one of the aforementioned industries, and their export levels as well as their investments were higher compared to other member states [1]. A survey on the capital expenditures amongst 1,750 European SMEs in seven markets suggests that German SMEs throughout the 2011/2012 period were significantly more willing to invest in IThardware as for example Italian or French SMEs [2]. As for ITSoftware, again Germany is at the forefront of expenditures with an estimated 6% increase in ITsoftware investments during 2013. These observation may imply that there might be a relation between an SME’s ITrelated investments and its ability to adapt on changing markets or to recover from (periodical) economic crises. This paper is certainly not a fully fledged scientific contribution in the sense that it seeks to find evidence on certain propositions. Rather, it contributes to the body of literature in that it tries to outline the actual as well as the desired role of SMErelated information systems research. It seeks to show SMErelated research as both highly relevant and relatively scarce. With our contribution, we would like to help starting an ample discussion on how SMEsrelated and ITfocused research should look like, what part of enterprise’s related research should be revised and adapted and which might be completely rethought. In the following section, a short overview on the body of knowledge on SMErelated ITfocused research and its current status will be given. Furthermore, we would like to highlight historical and contemporary research on ITproductivity and its linkage to SMEs. Finally, open research questions will be motivated to be answered in the SMEs context. These questions are barely understood or described today.}, File = {Kra13d.pdf:Kra13d.pdf:PDF}, ISBN = {9783844023008}, ISSN = {21957460}, Owner = {frederik}, Timestamp = {07.02.2014} }AbstractDespite the recent news about mergers, failures and the astonishing growth of huge enterprises, Small and Mediumsized Enterprises (SMEs) account for a considerable share of Europe’s economy. According to the European definition, SMEs are companies that have less than 250 fulltime employees, less or equal to € 50 Mil. turnover, and a balance sheet total of less or equal to € 43 Mil. SMEs reflect more than 98% of Europe’s enterprises with 92.2% of them employing less than 10 people [1]. These companies are the powerful “backbone of the European Economy” [p.9, 1]. Throughout the EU’s27 member states, SMEs account for 67% of the total employment and 58% of the gross value added (GVA) [1]. There are performance differences amongst SMEs in the 27 EU member states. Although the economic crisis hampered SMEs throughout Europe, only Germany, Austria and Malta have exceeded their 2008 precrisis GVA and employment values. Finland, Belgium, France and Luxembourg returned to precrisis values and the remaining 20 member states have not yet been able to catch up. The European Commission in their 2011/2012 annual report on SMEs identified factors that seem to be a precondition for fast recovery after a crisis. They identified strong “hightech and medium hightech manufacturing and knowledgeintensive services” industries as key drivers for fast recovery [1]. Additionally, they found evidences that labor productivity levels were higher when the companies were serving in one of the aforementioned industries, and their export levels as well as their investments were higher compared to other member states [1]. A survey on the capital expenditures amongst 1,750 European SMEs in seven markets suggests that German SMEs throughout the 2011/2012 period were significantly more willing to invest in IThardware as for example Italian or French SMEs [2]. As for ITSoftware, again Germany is at the forefront of expenditures with an estimated 6% increase in ITsoftware investments during 2013. These observation may imply that there might be a relation between an SME’s ITrelated investments and its ability to adapt on changing markets or to recover from (periodical) economic crises. This paper is certainly not a fully fledged scientific contribution in the sense that it seeks to find evidence on certain propositions. Rather, it contributes to the body of literature in that it tries to outline the actual as well as the desired role of SMErelated information systems research. It seeks to show SMErelated research as both highly relevant and relatively scarce. With our contribution, we would like to help starting an ample discussion on how SMEsrelated and ITfocused research should look like, what part of enterprise’s related research should be revised and adapted and which might be completely rethought. In the following section, a short overview on the body of knowledge on SMErelated ITfocused research and its current status will be given. Furthermore, we would like to highlight historical and contemporary research on ITproductivity and its linkage to SMEs. Finally, open research questions will be motivated to be answered in the SMEs context. These questions are barely understood or described today.
- F. Kramer and N. Jamous, „SME and Green-IT – A decision model,“ in 27th international conference on environmental informatics for environmental protection, sustainable development and risk management, enviroinfo 2013, hamburg, germany, september 2-4, 2013. proceedings, 2013, pp. 350-359.
[Bibtex]@InProceedings{Kra13e, Title = {{SME and Green-IT - A decision model}}, Author = {Frederik Kramer and Naoum Jamous}, Booktitle = {27th International Conference on Environmental Informatics for Environmental Protection, Sustainable Development and Risk Management, EnviroInfo 2013, Hamburg, Germany, September 2-4, 2013. Proceedings}, Year = {2013}, Pages = {350-359}, Abstract = {Because of the enduring warnings of experts and the continuous impact of the climate change, sustainability has become a major concern of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). The information technology sector offers a variety of products that address sustainability. These range from environmental management information systems (EMIS) to hardware (e.g. energy efficient CPUs) as well as software components (e.g. hyper-visors). As "sustainability" and especially the buzz-word 'Green IT' became door openers in almost every IT marketing campaign, a useful evaluation becomes even harder. Due to their special constraints in terms of size, focus, skills, capital, and applied decision methods, SMEs struggle even harder than large enterprise to purposefully evaluate complex technologies. This article provides a structured evaluation model of IT-based sustainability technologies for SMEs. The model is based on multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) and comprises different decision categories such as flexibility, risk, strategy, and cost / benefits as well as respective subcategories (e.g. implementation of a sustainability strategy) that we found to be important in the context of IT, SMEs, and sustainability.}, File = {Kra13e.pdf:Kra13e.pdf:PDF}, ISBN = {9783844016765}, Owner = {frederik}, Timestamp = {07.02.2014}, Url = {http://enviroinfo.eu/sites/default/files/pdfs/vol7995/0350.pdf} }AbstractBecause of the enduring warnings of experts and the continuous impact of the climate change, sustainability has become a major concern of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). The information technology sector offers a variety of products that address sustainability. These range from environmental management information systems (EMIS) to hardware (e.g. energy efficient CPUs) as well as software components (e.g. hyper-visors). As „sustainability“ and especially the buzz-word ‚Green IT‘ became door openers in almost every IT marketing campaign, a useful evaluation becomes even harder. Due to their special constraints in terms of size, focus, skills, capital, and applied decision methods, SMEs struggle even harder than large enterprise to purposefully evaluate complex technologies. This article provides a structured evaluation model of IT-based sustainability technologies for SMEs. The model is based on multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) and comprises different decision categories such as flexibility, risk, strategy, and cost / benefits as well as respective subcategories (e.g. implementation of a sustainability strategy) that we found to be important in the context of IT, SMEs, and sustainability.
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S. Bublitz, S. Henning, N. Jamous, F. Kramer, E. Löschner, T. Mätäsniemi, and D. Sacha, „Organizations‘ Environmental Performance Indicators: Measuring, Monitoring, and Management,“ in Organizations‘ environmental performance indicators: measuring, monitoring, and management, A. Dada, K. Stanoevska, and J. M. Gómez, Eds., Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer berlin heidelberg, 2013, pp. 141-169.
[Bibtex]@InBook{Bub13, Title = {{Organizations' Environmental Performance Indicators: Measuring, Monitoring, and Management}}, Author = {Bublitz, Siegfried and Henning, Steffen and Jamous, Naoum and Kramer, Frederik and L{\"o}schner, Elke and M{\"a}t{\"a}sniemi, Teemu and Sacha, Dominik}, Chapter = {{Incorporating External Data Using Semantics}}, Editor = {Dada, Ali and Stanoevska, Katarina and G{\'o}mez, Jorge Marx}, Pages = {141-169}, Publisher = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg}, Year = {2013}, Address = {Berlin, Heidelberg}, Abstract = {Representing environmental performance indicators (EPIs) is often based on the incorporation of external data from third parties, e.g. databases or applications. A challenge on its own is the heterogeneity of the used formats and the missing of agreed upon definitions. We propose a semantic approach for addressing these issues. This approach relies on the ontology for EPIs which has been introduced conceptually in chapter “OEPI Ontology” already. In this chapter, we illustrate its application based on practical case studies.}, Booktitle = {Organizations' Environmental Performance Indicators: Measuring, Monitoring, and Management}, Doi = {10.1007/978-3-642-32720-9_11}, ISBN = {978-3-642-32720-9}, Owner = {frederik}, Timestamp = {15.06.2017}, Url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32720-9_11} }AbstractRepresenting environmental performance indicators (EPIs) is often based on the incorporation of external data from third parties, e.g. databases or applications. A challenge on its own is the heterogeneity of the used formats and the missing of agreed upon definitions. We propose a semantic approach for addressing these issues. This approach relies on the ontology for EPIs which has been introduced conceptually in chapter “OEPI Ontology” already. In this chapter, we illustrate its application based on practical case studies.
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- N. Jamous, F. Kramer, and H. Schrödl, „IT-gestütztes Ressourcen- und Energiemanagement: Konferenzband zu den 5. BUIS-Tagen,“ in 15. tagung der fachgruppe betriebliche umweltinformationssysteme der gesellschaft für informatik e.v. (5. buis-tage), oldenburg (niedersachsen), april 24-26, 2013, J. M. G. C. L. V. und und Wohlgemuth, Ed., Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer berlin heidelberg, 2013, pp. 229-241.
[Bibtex]@InBook{Jam13, Title = {{IT-gest{\"u}tztes Ressourcen- und Energiemanagement: Konferenzband zu den 5. BUIS-Tagen}}, Author = {Naoum Jamous and Frederik Kramer and Holger Schrödl}, Chapter = {{Eine Light-Weight Composite Environmental Performance Indicators (LWC-EPI) Lösung - Eine systematische Entwicklung von EMIS, deren Anforderungen und Hindernisse aus Anwender-;Experten- und KMU-Perspektive}}, Editor = {Jorge Marx G{\'o}mez und Corinna Lang und Volker Wohlgemuth}, Pages = {229-241}, Publisher = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg}, Year = {2013}, Address = {Berlin, Heidelberg}, Abstract = {In Anbetracht der rasanten Veränderungen der Umwelt wird die Relevanz der aktuellen Umweltpolitik auf den Prüfstand gestellt. Umweltveränderungen werden sichtbar, und ihre Auswirkungen haben das Potenzial, in den nächsten Jahrzehnten irreversibel zu werden. Eine klare und umfassende Kommunikation eines Unternehmens zur Nachhaltigkeit seiner Unternehmenspolitik hat sich zu einem zunehmend wichtigen Faktor für den Erfolg in Markt entwickelt. Performance-Indikatoren, die im Einklang mit nachhaltigen Themen stehen und damit die Fähigkeit eines Unternehmens für die Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung darstellen, ein Weg, um dieser Herausforderung zu begegnen. Diese Arbeit beleuchtet die wachsenden Bedürfnisse der Beteiligung kleiner und mittlerer Unternehmen (KMU) in dieser ökologischen Nachhaltigkeitsbewegung. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht die Barrieren, mit denen KMU konfrontiert sind, Environmental Management Systems (EMS) zu implementieren und Environmental Management Information Systems (EMISs) zu verwenden. Darüber hinaus bietet dieser Beitrag Empfehlungen, wie ein geeignetes EMIS für KMU zu entwickeln ist. Dieser Beitrag umfasst eine Zusammenfassung der LWC-EPI-System-Ansatzes, der die Systemerwartung und die ihr zugrunde liegende Architektur auf Basis von Experten-Empfehlungen und Anforderungen der Anwender aus einer umfassenden Befragung von 272 Unternehmen beschreibt. Basierend auf den vorherigen und einer ähnlichen Studie präsentiert der Beitrag den ECET-Anforderungsrahmen als ein konzeptionelles Modell. Dieses Modell ist geeignet, Unternehmen zu helfen, sich auf relevante Themen zu konzentrieren, wenn sie mit der Realisierung oder Erweiterung eines EMIS konfrontiert sind.}, Booktitle = {15. Tagung der Fachgruppe Betriebliche Umweltinformationssysteme der Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (5. BUIS-Tage), Oldenburg (Niedersachsen), April 24-26, 2013}, Doi = {10.1007/978-3-642-35030-6_22}, File = {Jam13.pdf:Jam13.pdf:PDF}, Owner = {frederik}, Timestamp = {07.02.2014}, Url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35030-6_22} }AbstractIn Anbetracht der rasanten Veränderungen der Umwelt wird die Relevanz der aktuellen Umweltpolitik auf den Prüfstand gestellt. Umweltveränderungen werden sichtbar, und ihre Auswirkungen haben das Potenzial, in den nächsten Jahrzehnten irreversibel zu werden. Eine klare und umfassende Kommunikation eines Unternehmens zur Nachhaltigkeit seiner Unternehmenspolitik hat sich zu einem zunehmend wichtigen Faktor für den Erfolg in Markt entwickelt. Performance-Indikatoren, die im Einklang mit nachhaltigen Themen stehen und damit die Fähigkeit eines Unternehmens für die Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung darstellen, ein Weg, um dieser Herausforderung zu begegnen. Diese Arbeit beleuchtet die wachsenden Bedürfnisse der Beteiligung kleiner und mittlerer Unternehmen (KMU) in dieser ökologischen Nachhaltigkeitsbewegung. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht die Barrieren, mit denen KMU konfrontiert sind, Environmental Management Systems (EMS) zu implementieren und Environmental Management Information Systems (EMISs) zu verwenden. Darüber hinaus bietet dieser Beitrag Empfehlungen, wie ein geeignetes EMIS für KMU zu entwickeln ist. Dieser Beitrag umfasst eine Zusammenfassung der LWC-EPI-System-Ansatzes, der die Systemerwartung und die ihr zugrunde liegende Architektur auf Basis von Experten-Empfehlungen und Anforderungen der Anwender aus einer umfassenden Befragung von 272 Unternehmen beschreibt. Basierend auf den vorherigen und einer ähnlichen Studie präsentiert der Beitrag den ECET-Anforderungsrahmen als ein konzeptionelles Modell. Dieses Modell ist geeignet, Unternehmen zu helfen, sich auf relevante Themen zu konzentrieren, wenn sie mit der Realisierung oder Erweiterung eines EMIS konfrontiert sind.
- F. Kramer, „In search of service-integration – a case-based comparison of two SME e-commerce projects,“ in Bsoa/bcloud 2013 – 8. workshop bewertungsaspekte service- und cloudbasierter architekturen, 12. november, basel, schweiz, A. Schmietendorf and M. Hanin, Eds., Aachen: Shaker, 2013, vol. 12, pp. 67-80.
[Bibtex]@InCollection{Kra13, Title = {{In search of service-integration - a case-based comparison of two SME e-commerce projects}}, Author = {Frederik Kramer}, Booktitle = {BSOA/BCloud 2013 - 8. Workshop Bewertungsaspekte service- und cloudbasierter Architekturen, 12. November, Basel, Schweiz}, Publisher = {Shaker}, Year = {2013}, Address = {Aachen}, Editor = {Andreas Schmietendorf and Makram Hanin}, Month = {November}, Pages = {67-80}, Series = {Berliner Schriften zu modernen Integrationsarchitekturen}, Volume = {12}, Abstract = {This article seeks to reason on the state of service-integration within small and medium-sized businesses (SME). SME are an important part of developed economies and shaped by their special constraints such as scarcity of capital and available skill. By drawing and investigating two cases of small entrepreneurial companies the state of service-integration of the two related eCommerce projects is being evaluated. The fundamental difference between proprietary and open source systems is illustrated. Finally this article contributes to the body of knowledge in that it provides insight why closed, proprietary systems tend to retain control over service interfaces whereas open systems are intrinsically more open to implement real and also extensible service interfaces. Implementation attributes are being illustrated and compared and a status, feature as well as cost comparison is conducted in order to support the flow of argumentation.}, File = {Kra13.pdf:Kra13.pdf:PDF}, ISBN = {9783844021080}, Keywords = {Service-integration, Open source software, SME}, Owner = {frederik}, Timestamp = {05.02.2013} }AbstractThis article seeks to reason on the state of service-integration within small and medium-sized businesses (SME). SME are an important part of developed economies and shaped by their special constraints such as scarcity of capital and available skill. By drawing and investigating two cases of small entrepreneurial companies the state of service-integration of the two related eCommerce projects is being evaluated. The fundamental difference between proprietary and open source systems is illustrated. Finally this article contributes to the body of knowledge in that it provides insight why closed, proprietary systems tend to retain control over service interfaces whereas open systems are intrinsically more open to implement real and also extensible service interfaces. Implementation attributes are being illustrated and compared and a status, feature as well as cost comparison is conducted in order to support the flow of argumentation.
- F. Kramer, „Big Data: How in-memory technologies create business value ?,“ in Proceedings of the 18th annual sap academic conference emea 2013, münchen (bayern), september 13, 2013, Aachen (NW), 2013.
[Bibtex]@InProceedings{Kra13a, Title = {{Big Data: How in-memory technologies create business value ?}}, Author = {Frederik Kramer}, Booktitle = {Proceedings of the 18th Annual SAP Academic Conference EMEA 2013, M\"unchen (Bayern), September 13, 2013}, Year = {2013}, Address = {Aachen (NW)}, Editor = {Helmut Krcmar and Klaus Turowski}, Publisher = {Shaker Verlag}, Abstract = {The buzz-word “big data” is getting more and more popular amongst researchers as well as companies. Ubiquitous and mobile computing are reality today. A constantly increasing amount of data is being collected from web logs, sensors as well as various other sources and shared across platforms and networks. Information technology that specifically addresses big data challenges is fostering the popularity of big data. In this paper, we discuss opportunities and challenges big data poses as well as the problem solving capabilities of SAP HANA as one very popular technology in this field. We present the findings we obtained from semi-structured stakeholder interviews during a proof of concept phase of SAP HANA inside a multinational IT-company and contrast them with the theoretical foundations. Finally, we propose an evaluation map that we derived from the qualitative expectations of the stakeholders. This map outlines the requirements for a big data technology from a business point of view.}, File = {Kra13a.pdf:Kra13a.pdf:PDF}, Keywords = {big data, in- memory database, SAP HANA, proof of concept}, Owner = {frederik}, Timestamp = {07.02.2014} }AbstractThe buzz-word “big data” is getting more and more popular amongst researchers as well as companies. Ubiquitous and mobile computing are reality today. A constantly increasing amount of data is being collected from web logs, sensors as well as various other sources and shared across platforms and networks. Information technology that specifically addresses big data challenges is fostering the popularity of big data. In this paper, we discuss opportunities and challenges big data poses as well as the problem solving capabilities of SAP HANA as one very popular technology in this field. We present the findings we obtained from semi-structured stakeholder interviews during a proof of concept phase of SAP HANA inside a multinational IT-company and contrast them with the theoretical foundations. Finally, we propose an evaluation map that we derived from the qualitative expectations of the stakeholders. This map outlines the requirements for a big data technology from a business point of view.