Recommending Books for Purchase (Bulletin 67 - May 2020): IT in Business

This edited book presents the state-of-the-art of applying fuzzy logic to managerial decision-making processes in areas such as fuzzy-based portfolio management, recommender systems, performance assessment and risk analysis, among others. Presenting the latest research, with a strong focus on applications and case studies, it is a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners, project leaders and managers wanting to apply or improve their fuzzy-based skills.

This book offers a practical guide to artificial intelligence (AI) techniques that are used in business. The book does not focus on AI models and algorithms, but instead provides an overview of the most popular and frequently used models in business. This allows the book to easily explain AI paradigms and concepts for business students and executives. Artificial Intelligence for Business is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 begins with a brief introduction to AI and describes its relationship with machine learning, data science and big data analytics. Chapter 2 presents core machine learning workflow and the most effective machine learning techniques. Chapter 3 deals with deep learning, a popular technique for developing AI applications. Chapter 4 introduces recommendation engines for business and covers how to use them to be more competitive. Chapter 5 features natural language processing (NLP) for sentiment analysis focused on emotions. With the help of sentiment analysis, businesses can understand their customers better to improve their experience, which will help the businesses change their market position. Chapter 6 states potential business prospects of AI and the benefits that companies can realize by implementing AI in their processes.

This book presents a collection of the latest research in the area of immersive technologies, presented at the International Augmented and Virtual Reality Conference 2018 in Manchester, UK, and showcases how augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are transforming the business landscape. Innovations in this field are seen as providing opportunities for businesses to offer their customers unique services and experiences. The papers gathered here advance the state of the art in AR/VR technologies and their applications in various industries such as healthcare, tourism, hospitality, events, fashion, entertainment, retail, education and gaming. The volume collects contributions by prominent computer and social sciences experts from around the globe. Addressing the most significant topics in the field of augmented and virtual reality and sharing the latest findings, it will be of interest to academics and practitioners alike.

Extensive research conducted by the Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research Program at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, USA, and the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, has yielded valuable insights on why and how design thinking works. Researchers have identified metrics, developed models, and conducted studies, which are featured in this book, and in the previous volumes of this series. Offering readers a closer look at design thinking, and its innovation processes and methods, this volume covers topics ranging from understanding success factors of design thinking to exploring the potential that lies in the use of digital technologies. Furthermore, readers learn how special-purpose design thinking can be used to solve thorny problems in complex fields, such as the health sector or software development. Thinking and devising innovations are inherently human activities - so is design thinking. Accordingly, design thinking is not merely the result of special courses or of being gifted or trained: it is a way of dealing with our environment and improving techniques, technologies and life. As such, the research outcomes compiled in this book should increase knowledge and provide inspiration to all seeking to drive innovation - be they experienced design thinkers or newcomers.

This book examines issues and implications of digital and social media marketing for emerging markets. These markets necessitate substantial adaptations of developed theories and approaches employed in the Western world. The book investigates problems specific to emerging markets, while identifying new theoretical constructs and practical applications of digital marketing. It addresses topics such as electronic word of mouth (eWOM), demographic differences in digital marketing, mobile marketing, search engine advertising, among others. A radical increase in both temporal and geographical reach is empowering consumers to exert influence on brands, products, and services. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and digital media are having a significant impact on the way people communicate and fulfil their socio-economic, emotional and material needs. These technologies are also being harnessed by businesses for various purposes including distribution and selling of goods, retailing of consumer services, customer relationship management, and influencing consumer behaviour by employing digital marketing practices. This book considers this, as it examines the practice and research related to digital and social media marketing.

The digital traces that people leave behind as they conduct their daily lives provide a powerful resource for businesses to better understand the dynamics of an otherwise chaotic society. Digital technologies have become omnipresent in our lives and we still do not fully know how to make the best use of the data these technologies could harness. Businesses leveraging big data appropriately could definitely gain a sustainable competitive advantage. With a balanced mix of texts and cases, this book discusses a variety of digital technologies and how they transform people and organizations. It offers a debate on the societal consequences of the yet unfolding technological revolution and proposes alternatives for harnessing disruptive technologies for the greater benefit of all. This book will have wide appeal to academics in technology management, strategy, marketing, and human resource management.

Electronic participation is an emerging and growing research area that makes use of internet solutions to enhance citizens' participation in government processes in order to provide a fair and efficient society. This book examines recommender-system technologies and voting advice applications as tools to enable electronic citizen participation during election campaigns. Further, making use of fuzzy classification, it provides an evaluation framework for eParticipation. A dynamic voting advice application developed for the 2017 Ecuador national election serves as a real-world case study to introduce readers to the practical implementation and evaluation issues. The book concludes with a comprehensive analysis of the 2017 election project based on altmetrics, Google Analytics and statistics from the case study.  

This textbook reviews and systematically presents the use of the Internet in public administration and politics. Further, it employs a process-oriented layer model to define the opportunities for exchange and participation for all stakeholder groups, covering the following topics: eAssistance, eProcurement, eService, eContracting, eSettlement, eCollaboration, eDemocracy, and eCommunity. In turn, real-world case studies demonstrate the practical applications in industry, administration and research. The second edition of this book has been completely revised and extended, and includes several new case studies. It offers a valuable asset for students in Business, Economics and Political Sciences courses, as well as practitioners interested in emerging opportunities for digital exchange and participation in the knowledge society.

This book examines the massive changes currently taking place in the business world and commonly known under the label "digitalization." In addition, it describes the significant impacts of technological innovations on processes, products, services and business models. The digital transformation resulting from these developments leads to disruption for many enterprises and industries. While for many years, IT departments mainly concentrated on fulfilling the requirements of business departments effectively and efficiently by means of high-quality IT services and operations, today's IT departments are increasingly expected to actively co-design and co-create the enterprise. This book describes how information technology enables innovation for businesses, and how IT departments can proactively and in a timely manner collaborate with the business departments of their corporation to leverage these innovations. It also delineates the implications of digitalization for the structures, processes and people in today's IT departments. IT leaders and managers who are responsible for corporate IT, as well as practice-oriented researchers, will find valuable inspirations and guidance in this book, the central mission of which is to encourage and enable a more proactive role for IT in the digital transformation processes. "This book demonstrates the impact of digital transformation on IT organizations and their management. It also presents potential risks for technology availability, security and data protection. The authors develop a vision of what IT management should look like in ten years if it is to continue playing an important role in the company. The book seeks to motivate IT executives and managers with IT responsibility to actively adapt their thinking and their IT organizations before they are forced to react to external pressure. Definitely worth reading!" Sven Kreimendahl, Director Business Technology Services, Campana & Schott

In recent decades, organizational stress researchers have repeatedly called for more longitudinal studies. This book argues that tools and devices that have been developed for the private or organizational domains could be helpful when it comes to studying longitudinal phenomena, as they offer unobtrusive measurement and are frequently employed by many individuals in daily life. In particular, the book examines lifelogging, a research field that addresses the computer-based collection of individual experiences. Further, it highlights areas in organizational stress research that benefit from insights in the lifelogging literature and provides a summary of tools that can be used for stress measurement. It also offers an overview of the latest research and current developments on lifelogging and organizational stress for researchers interested in self-measurement of stress-related effects and for organizational stress researchers.

This book addresses the issue of smart and sustainable development in the Mediterranean (MED) region, a distinct part of the world, full of challenges and risks but also opportunities. Above all, the book focuses on smartening up small and medium-sized cities and insular communities, taking into account their geographical peculiarities, the pattern of MED urban settlements and the abundance of island complexes in the MED Basin. Taking for granted that sustainability in the MED is the overarching policy goal that needs to be served, the book explores different aspects of smartness in support of this goal's achievement. In this respect, evidence from concrete smart developments adopted by forerunners in the MED region is collected and analyzed; coupled with experiences gathered from successful, non-MED, examples of smart efforts in European countries. More specifically, current research and empirical results from MED urban environments are discussed, as well as findings from or concerning other parts of the world, which are of relevance to the MED region. The book's primary goal is to enable policymakers, planners and decision-making bodies to recognize the challenges and options availab≤ and make to more informed policy decisions towards smart, sustainable, inclusive and resilient urban and regional futures in the MED. 

This book describes the intrinsic factors of IT Operation and its set-up during the software implementation phase. Based on the author's long-term experience in managing IT for more than 100 clients over nearly 25 years, the book examines the needed knowledge and execution management capabilities to implement and run IT environments successfully for all sizes of enterprises. Many real-world examples provide insight into typical IT challenges and recipes to turn common pitfalls of implementation and operation into best practices. In order to dominate information technology and not be dominated by it, readers will understand how to identify the most common risk factors during implementations and how to initiate successful risk-mitigation measures. The goal of this book is to arm the reader to completely prevent The 5 Pitfalls of Software Implementation by using the right programmatic design and execution. After an introduction to the book, individual chapters examine the vision of a Perfect IT and how Design Thinking and innovation contributes to it. The core chapters conveys The Five Pitfalls of Software Implementation, including Underestimation of System Performance Issues, Weak Program Governance and Leadership, and Operational Un-Readiness. The challenges surrounding implementations of cloud applications, are presented separately. Final chapters describe the preparation of the IT Operation along with a number of dos and don'ts (i.e. 'Best Practices' and 'Worst Practices'). The book concludes by presenting some Digital Strategies of companies, to dominate information technology.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will change the lives of people and businesses more fundamentally than many people can even imagine today. This book illustrates the importance of AI in an era of digitalization. It introduces the foundations of AI and explains its benefits and challenges for companies and entire industries. In this regard, AI is approached not just as yet another technology, but as a fundamental innovation, which will spread into all areas of the economy and life, and will disrupt business processes and business models in the years to come.  In turn, the book assesses the potential that AI holds, and clarifies the framework that is necessary for pursuing a responsible approach to AI. In a series of best-practice cases, the book subsequently highlights a broad range of sectors and industries, from production to services; from customer service to marketing and sales; and in industries like retail, health care, energy, transportation and many more. In closing, a dedicated chapter outlines a roadmap for a specific corporate AI journey. No one can ignore intensive work with AI today - neither as a private person, let alone as a top performer in companies. This book offers a thorough, carefully crafted, and easy to understand entry into the field of AI. The central terms used in the AI ​​context are given a very good explanation. In addition, a number of cases show what AI can do today and where the journey is heading. An important book that you should not miss! Professor Dr. Harley Krohmer University of Bern "Inspiring, thought provoking and comprehensive, this book is wittingly designed to be a catalyst for your individual and corporate AI journey." Avo Schönbohm, Professor at the Berlin School of Economics and Law, Enterprise Game Designer at LUDEO and Business Punk