Alexander Schwinn and Joachim Schelp
The application landscapes of major companies all have their own complex structure. Data have to be exchanged between or distributed to the various applications. Systemizing…
Abstract
Purpose
The application landscapes of major companies all have their own complex structure. Data have to be exchanged between or distributed to the various applications. Systemizing different data integration patterns on a conceptual level can help to avoid uncontrolled redundancy and support the design process of data integration solutions. Each pattern provides a solution for certain data integration requirements and makes the design process more effective by reusing approved solutions. Proposes identifying these patterns.
Design/methodology/approach
After a broad literature review data were obtained from interviews and documentary sources. Ten semi‐structured interviews were conducted within four different companies operating in the financial service industry. EAI‐ and IT‐architects as well as project managers and CTOs were involved in these interviews.
Findings
Five different data integration patterns were identified. Solutions for upcoming data integration requirements can be designed using these patterns. Advantages and disadvantages as well as typical usage scenarios are discussed for each identified data integration pattern.
Research limitations/implications
In order to identify data dependencies, to detect redundancies and to conduct further investigations, a consistent methodology for the description of application landscapes has to be developed. The presented design patterns are one part of this methodology only. The approach in this paper only considers data integration while in reality there are also other integration requirements like functional or process‐oriented integration.
Practical implications
The identified design patterns help practitioners (e.g. IT‐architects) to design solutions for data integration requirements. They can map the conceptual patterns to company specific technologies or products to realize the solution physically.
Originality/value
The design patterns are indifferent from any technology or products which ensure a broad application. Business requirements (e.g. requirement for autonomous processing) are considered first when designing a data integration solution.
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Current issues of Publishers' Weekly are reporting serious shortages of paper, binders board, cloth, and other essential book manufacturing materials. Let us assure you these…
Abstract
Current issues of Publishers' Weekly are reporting serious shortages of paper, binders board, cloth, and other essential book manufacturing materials. Let us assure you these shortages are very real and quite severe.
This article presents an extensive up‐to‐date list of selective references on quality circles.
Abstract
This article presents an extensive up‐to‐date list of selective references on quality circles.
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Kurt Rachlitz, Benjamin Grossmann-Hensel and Ronja Friedl
In this paper, the authors aim to clarify the relationship between organization and society. They argue that the proliferation of organization in modernity has not yet been…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors aim to clarify the relationship between organization and society. They argue that the proliferation of organization in modernity has not yet been properly understood in light of the absence of organization in premodern times. The authors therefore ask: Why do organizations proliferate? Why do they proliferate in such manifold organizational forms? And how can these heterogeneous forms nevertheless be related to a common problem to which organizations provide a solution? A comparative historical analysis based on the theory of social systems reveals that organizations fill a gap which the decline of morality as an integrative success medium created.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper develops a conceptual framework focusing on the theory of media within Luhmann’s theory of social systems as a point of departure. The authors discuss the concept of “interpenetration” to assess the relation between morality and organization. They raise several follow-up questions for future empirical research, most prominently pertaining to the relationship between organization and digitalization.
Findings
The main finding is that morality can be conceptualized as a specific success medium (alongside religion and symbolically generalized communication media) which used to structure premodern societies by means of social and interhuman interpenetration at once. Modern society instead employs two differentiated forms of interpenetration: Social interpretation through organizations and interhuman interpenetration through love relationships. These centripetal counterforces help to mediate the centrifugal forces unleashed by the full development of modern success media. Modern society critically depends on the proliferation of organizations.
Originality/value
This paper examines the relationship between morality and organization not from the perspective of interaction or organization, but from the perspective of society. This approach provides novel insights in that it opens up promising avenues of comparison between organization and other social forms. Understanding the distinctively modern “success story” of organization as a social form makes it possible to ask about corresponding potentials and limitations, but also alternative possibilities. In doing so, the authors depart from most studies of organizations grounded in social systems theory as the authors primarily focus on Luhmann’s theory of media (as opposed to the theory of differentiation).