Linked Data Adoption And Application Within Financial Business Processes

This book is the first part of a two book series. It is based on a combination of Finance and IT. More precisely, it applies the concept of Linked Data (hence LD), which originates from the IT landscape, to the specifics of the financial world. LD is a new concept for efficient handling of data, which could be used for dealing with a complex data set and data structures, as well as Big Data. The focus of this book is on the adoption of LD and its application within financial business processes. First, LD is briefly explained and framed in the context of the financial services domain. Second, modeling the determinants of LD adoption needed a clear statement over its advantages and disadvantages, amongst others within the financial domain. Despite the high interest towards the LD concept, no such overview existed before this work. Fourth, the model on LD adoption is applied to business (financial) reporting, illustrated with the XBRL case. Finally, semi-structured interviews with financial experts reconfirm and extend the findings. The main potentials are described in detail.

Computers increasingly collect, manage, and analyze data for scholarly research. Linked data gives libraries the ability to support this e-research, making it a powerful tool. Libraries are at a tipping point in adoption of linked data, and this issue of Library Technology Reports explores current research in linked open data, explaining concepts and pioneering services, such as Five building blocks of metadata—data model, content rules, metadata schema, data serialization, and data exchange Three case studies—Europeana, Digital Public Library of America, and BIBFRAME How libraries, archives and museums are currently addressing such issues as metadata quality, open data and business models, cross community engagement, and implementation

In March 2004, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) launched the financial management line of business (FMLOB) initiative, in part, to reduce the cost and improve the quality and performance of federal financial management systems by leveraging shared service solutions and implementing other reforms. In March 2006, it was reported that OMB's approach did not fully integrate certain fundamental system implementation-related concepts and recommended OMB take specific actions. This report discusses: (1) OMB's progress in addressing prior FMLOB recommendations and implementation challenges; and (2) the effectiveness of OMB's monitoring of financial management system modernization projects and their costs. Illus.

In this book readers will find technological discussions on the existing and emerging technologies across the different stages of the big data value chain. They will learn about legal aspects of big data, the social impact, and about education needs and requirements. And they will discover the business perspective and how big data technology can be exploited to deliver value within different sectors of the economy. The book is structured in four parts: Part I “The Big Data Opportunity” explores the value potential of big data with a particular focus on the European context. It also describes the legal, business and social dimensions that need to be addressed, and briefly introduces the European Commission’s BIG project. Part II “The Big Data Value Chain” details the complete big data lifecycle from a technical point of view, ranging from data acquisition, analysis, curation and storage, to data usage and exploitation. Next, Part III “Usage and Exploitation of Big Data” illustrates the value creation possibilities of big data applications in various sectors, including industry, healthcare, finance, energy, media and public services. Finally, Part IV “A Roadmap for Big Data Research” identifies and prioritizes the cross-sectorial requirements for big data research, and outlines the most urgent and challenging technological, economic, political and societal issues for big data in Europe. This compendium summarizes more than two years of work performed by a leading group of major European research centers and industries in the context of the BIG project. It brings together research findings, forecasts and estimates related to this challenging technological context that is becoming the major axis of the new digitally transformed business environment.

Business Process Management (BPM) has been evolving for over 25 years in information systems research, management science, and organizational practice (Vom Brocke & Mendling, 2018). The earliest characteristics of BPM concentrated around process analysis, improvement and control, in a less strict manner that required reengineering (Elzinga, Horak, Lee, & Bruner, 1995). More mature approaches, observed since the year 2000, have been promoting the so-called process thinking, i.e. managing an organization from a process-based point of view. These approaches emphasize that process and team work oriented organizational structures should be aligned with other management systems. Process management should be holistic by its nature so as to cover an entire organization. Although BPM researchers stressed the need for system thinking at that time, published literature distinguished two perspectives of looking at BPM: the organizational perspective and the technological perspective of BPM. From the organizational perspective, authors focused on a number of key factors, i.e., process governance, a process-based organizational structure concept, customer orientation of internal and external processes, managing an organization based on process outputs, building process relations, and improving process maturity throughout the customer value chain, as well as through strategically aligning process initiatives to organizational objectives. From the technological perspective, the key factors of interest to authors, referred to as BPMS (Business Process Management System), include IT methods, techniques and tools that support the designing, implementation, modeling and simulation of business processes and are considered to be an extension of classical workflow systems or an environment for designing management support IT systems, e.g. ERP class systems. An integrated and interdisciplinary approach was proposed in the framework of six core BPM elements required for the holistic and sustainable use of process management (Rosemann & Vom Brocke, 2010). These include strategic alignment, governance, methods, information technology, people and culture. In this sense, technology is only one of six closely interrelated elements. Currently, there are two distinct directions in the evolution of BPM: traditional BPM and digital BPM. The former encompasses methods, techniques and systems that traditionally lead to increased organizational efficiency and to improved process effectiveness and flexibility. Although studies on BPM have been continuously evolving, some research gaps still remain open. The traditional understanding of process management seems particularly vital to organizations in developing economies, which sometimes follow practices and models that were designed and tested in highly developed countries, but should also be committed to drawing on their own experience and understanding of their local business environment (Gabryelczyk & Roztocki, 2018). Research on BPM in this traditional focus is still needed to better document, implement and improve idiosyncratic business processes in the context of an organization, environment, culture, and country. This is also confirmed by research conducted under the JEMI Special Issue on Business Process Management. Besides the traditionally shaped approach to BPM, organizations increasingly treat BPM as a driver of organizational innovation and as an essential part of the digital transformation (Vom Brocke & Schmiedel, 2015). New digital technologies such as social media, digital platforms, big data and advanced data analytics, blockchains, robotics, etc., enable development and growth in a constantly changing environment. To take advantage of these opportunities in the digital world, organizations require new BPM competences and capabilities. However, digital disruption creates quite a challenge for the BPM research community. How can BPM capabilities be developed in order to achieve adaptability, growth, flexibility, and agility? How can BPM foster innovations within and throughout organizations? These are just some of the issues for future BPM-related research. Threads associated with employing BPM for digital transformation have been included in a proposed Special Issue on BPM. This Special Issue on BPM consists of six articles including contributions from invited authors from three transition economies: Croatia, Slovakia, and Poland. All of the papers focus on applications of the process approach to management or directly to the adoption of Business Process Management. The majority of articles relate to the traditional BPM thread, although the indicated BPM alliances with other concepts such as Knowledge Management, Change Management, and Project Management are worthy of note. Only one article addresses the topic of BPM in the context of digital transformation. The nature and structure of these articles may be indicative of the current motivational factors and process maturity levels of organizations adopting ordinary and/or advanced BPM practices. When analyzing the content of individual articles, we pay attention to the factors underlying BPM adoption. We understand the primary motivation to be the expected benefits from BPM. Therefore, we can assume this Special Issue to be a contribution to BPM development in the form of the indicating motivation and triggers for BPM adoption. The first paper, by Jerzy Auksztol and Magdalena Chomuszko, proposes a process-based approach to construct a Data Control Framework for Standard Audit File for Tax (SAF-T). The process approach is used to redesign the internal financial control processes and procedures of an organization to meet the new requirements of a fiscal audit. The process approach, combined with risk management and quality management, is, therefore, a tool supporting entrepreneurs adapting to new regulations imposed on them by their external environment, particularly those of tax authorities. Therefore, in this case, the main motivation for adopting elements of BPM was the impact of external environment factors. The paper by Ana-Marija Stjepić, Lucija Ivančić, and Dalia Suša Vugec focuses on the link between Business Process Management and digital transformation. The authors have developed a theoretical framework for the emerging role of BPM in digitalization and as a guide for researchers and practitioners conducting digital transformation initiatives in organizations. The results obtained in the article prove that the set goals and expected benefits of digital transformation can be achieved by a rethink and improvement of the processes, with a particular focus on end-to-end customer processes through supply chain management. Based on this article, we can conclude that one of the main motivational factors for BPM adoption is a desire to obtain the benefits of digital transformation. The article written by Miroslava Nyulásziová and Dana Paľová takes up the issues of using and linking the process approach and BPM lifecycle with the designing of decision support systems. The authors of this paper have developed an innovative system for decision support by implementing modeling, analysis, and improvement methods to the transportation process in the studied organization. The forwarding company’s case study presented in the paper also shows how BPM adoption began with a single main process that has been streamlined and automated. Therefore, the motivations for BPM adoption were not only operational, relating to the optimization of the cost of the process, but also managerial, oriented on improving the decision-making process. The use of information technology allowed the full exploitation of the potential for process improvements. The next paper by Olga Sobolewska is about incorporating the issues of BPM into the contemporary challenges of network organizations. The author claims that the organization’s orientation towards both business processes and knowledge management is a strong success factor for network cooperation. The author argues that modern organizations should focus on managing knowledge-oriented processes to become attractive to cooperation partners for network organizations. In this article, BPM adoption is of a strategic nature for the purposes of undertaking new forms of cooperation. The paper by Hubert Bogumił has an interdisciplinary character and, in a unique way, shows the connections between the concepts of process management, organizational change management, and IT project management. The author undertook the challenge of examining how problems for organizations managing IT projects facilitate in different ways the use of distinctive approaches to improve business processes. The author emphasizes that the main difficulty is the fact that modern organizations most often use a hybrid approach, with elements of both traditional project management and agile. The need to create a work environment that takes into account the risk of unexpected system and business regression, as well as a diagnosis of the causes and methods of its mitigation, is the initial research result in this paper. This article contributes to the development of BPM governance and integration of IT governance. The motivational factors for BPM are multi-faceted, as is the scope of the article. However, their managerial and cultural character (related to methods of communication and rules of cooperation in teams) should be emphasized. The article by Agnieszka Bitkowska concerns the integration of the concept of Knowledge Management and BPM. The author restates in her article that the identification, acquisition, presentation and documentation of knowledge are not independent tasks, but are implemented within business processes. In this paper, the correlations between BPM and Knowledge Management have been examined and the benefits and practical implications resulting from the integrated implementation of both concepts are emphasized. In the case of this article, BPM adoption can be a success factor for the implementation of Knowledge Management and the achievement of associated benefits. Studying Business Process Management from the different angles presented in this Special Issue should enrich our understanding of current BPM practices and better realize future challenges, especially those related to BPM development in the context of digital transformation and the integration of BPM with other management-related concepts. In addition, the contribution made by the authors of this Special Issue allowed us to see various motivations and triggers for BPM adoption, from operational, to managerial, strategic, cultural and technological ones, and those driven by the external environment. We would like to thank the authors for their contribution to this Special Issue. We would also like to thank all the reviewers for their valuable comments, which helped the authors improve their articles significantly. We are firmly convinced that the BPM research results presented in this Special Issue will help strengthen the existing body of BPM knowledge. We recommend reading the related issue of the JEMI journal to the wider community of BPM researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts. Guest Editors Renata Gabryelczyk , Tomislav Hernaus Acknowledgments The editorial work on this Special Issue was supported by the Polish National Science Centre, Poland, Grant No. 2017/27/B/HS4/01734. References Elzinga, D. J., Horak, T., Lee, C.-Y., & Bruner, C. (1995). Business process management: Survey and methodology. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 42(2), 119-128. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/17.387274 Gabryelczyk, R., & Roztocki, N. (2018). Business process management success framework for transition economies. Information Systems Management, 35(3), 234-253. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10580530.2018.1477299http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10580530.2018.1477299 Rosemann, M., & Vom Brocke, J. (2010). The six core elements of business process management. In Handbook on Business Process Management 1. Cham: Springer. Vom Brocke, J., & Mendling, J. (Eds.). (2018). Business Process Management Cases. Digital Innovation and Business Transformation in Practice. Berlin: Springer. Vom Brocke, J., & Schmiedel, T. (Eds.). (2015). BPM-Driving Innovation in a Digital World. Cham: Springer.

Throughout the industry, financial institutions seek to eliminate cumbersome authentication methods, such as PINs, passwords, and security questions, as these antiquated tactics prove increasingly weak. Thus, many organizations now aim to implement emerging technologies in an effort to validate identities with greater certainty. The near instantaneous nature of online banking, purchases, transactions, and payments puts tremendous pressure on banks to secure their operations and procedures. In order to reduce the risk of human error in financial domains, expert systems are seen to offer a great advantage in big data environments. Besides their efficiency in quantitative analysis such as profitability, banking management, and strategic financial planning, expert systems have successfully treated qualitative issues including financial analysis, investment advisories, and knowledge-based decision support systems. Due to the increase in financial applications’ size, complexity, and number of components, it is no longer practical to anticipate and model all possible interactions and data processing in these applications using the traditional data processing model. The emergence of new research areas is clear evidence of the rise of new demands and requirements of modern real-life applications to be more intelligent. This book provides an exhaustive review of the roles of expert systems within the financial sector, with particular reference to big data environments. In addition, it offers a collection of high-quality research that addresses broad challenges in both theoretical and application aspects of intelligent and expert systems in finance. The book serves to aid the continued efforts of the application of intelligent systems that respond to the problem of big data processing in a smart banking and financial environment.

"This book explores the value of information and its management by highlighting theoretical and empirical approaches in the economics of information systems, providing insight into how information systems can generate economic value for businesses and consumers"--Provided by publisher.

This book covers selected high-quality research papers presented at the International Conference on Big Data, Machine Learning, and Applications (BigDML 2019). It focuses on both theory and applications in the broad areas of big data and machine learning. It brings together the academia, researchers, developers and practitioners from scientific organizations and industry to share and disseminate recent research findings.