Background and purpose. This thesis documents a program of five studies concerned with the assessment of software measurement. The goal of this program is to assist the software industry to improve the information support for managers, analysts and software engineers by providing evidence of where opportunities for improving measurement and analysis exist. Methods. The first study examined the assessment of software measurement frameworks using models of best practice based on performance/success factors. The software measurement frameworks of thirteen organisations were surveyed. The association between a factor and the outcome experienced with the organisations' frameworks was then evaluated. The subsequent studies were more info-centric and investigated using models of information quality to assess the support provided for software processes. For these studies, information quality models targeting specific software processes were developed using practitioner focus groups. The models were instantiated in survey instruments and the responses were analysed to identify opportunities to improve the information support provided. The final study compared the use of two different information quality models for the assessing and improving information support. Assessments of the same quantum of information were made using a targeted model and a generic model. The assessments were then evaluated by an expert panel in order to identify which information quality model was more effective for improvement purposes. Results. The study of performance factors for software measurement frameworks confirmed the association of some factors with success and quantified that association. In particular, it demonstrated the importance of evaluating contextual factors. The conclusion is that factor-based models may be appropriately used for risk analysis and for identifying constraints on measurement performance. Note, however, that a follow-up study showed that some initially successful frameworks subsequently failed. This implied an instability in the dependent variable, success, that could reduce the value of factor-based models for predicting success. The studies of targeted information quality models demonstrated the effectiveness of targeted assessments for identifying improvement opportunities and suggest that they are likely to be more effective for improvement purposes than using generic information quality models. The studies also showed the effectiveness of importance-performance analysis for prioritizing improvement opportunities.

Bakgrunden till studien, som inleddes 1991, var en bild av en alltför lång ledtid för ekonomisk information till ledningspersoner i svenska storföretag. Detta gällde speciellt med hänsyn till vad som var tekniskt möjligt att åstadkomma. Resultaten bekräftar i princip denna bild, men de identifierade orsakerna är långt ifrån bara tekniska. Studien kartlägger faktorer som påverkar ledtiden för månatliga ekonomiska rapporter och diskuterar betydelsen av ekonomiska rapporter i svenska storföretag. Dessutom beskrivs storföretagens rutiner vid framställningen av rapporterna, t ex vad som rapporteras och när det sker. Till detta kommer ledningens åsikter om ledtiderna. Studien baseras på intervjuer med representanter för styrelse, ledningspersoner, koncernstab, fristående och en enkätundersökning till Sveriges 200 största företag. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo principal identificar os fatores determinantes à adoção de estratégias de lobbying sobre a regulação contábil do setor petrolífero, bem como avaliar a qualidade das informações contábeis das empresas desse setor. Para atender a esse objetivo, recorreu-se a três estudos direcionados para cada um dos seguintes aspectos: determinantes do lobbying e características dos grupos de interesses (estudo 1); estágio atual da qualidade da informação contábil do setor petrolífero (estudo 2) e evidências empíricas às questões do Discussion Paper Extractive Activities (estudo 3). Para operacionalizar os estudos, utilizaram-se as cartas comentários enviadas ao IASB e a base de dados da Evaluate Energy®, empregando-se diversas técnicas econométricas como regressão linear simples e múltipla, regressão logística binomial e multinomial e regressão de Poisson a diversos planos amostrais contendo informações de empresas petrolíferas. Os resultados indicam que o grupo de interesse formado pelos preparadores de demonstrações financeiras do setor petrolífero possui incentivos econômicos para realizar lobbying sobre determinada regulamentação contábil no sentido de defender seus interesses como prega a teoria da regulação econômica, notadamente quanto ao fator tamanho. Tal grupo de interesse, dentro do plano das escolhas contábeis, é favorável à utilização do custo histórico como base de valor e da possibilidade de escolha entre dois modelos contábeis concorrentes (successful efforts e full cost) e desfavoráveis às mudanças que levem ao aumento do nível de divulgação das informações. Suportando essa posição, tem-se a visão dos usuários primários das demonstrações financeiras que sugerem que as informações contábeis disponibilizadas pelas empresas petrolíferas são de qualidade, ao menos sob o prisma da relevância e conservadorismo, e indicam, ainda, que o atual conjunto de informações baseado no custo histórico é relevante para as suas decisões econômicas. Levando-se em consideração o grande apoio recebido pela proposta de ampliação das divulgações obrigatórias, aí incluída a proposta do Publish What You Pay, tem-se a rejeição por parte dos participantes do mercado de capitais indicando que os benefícios decorrentes da ampliação da divulgação não serão maiores do que os existentes, considerando as regras atuais. Em contraponto, tem-se a concepção de que a informação contábil produzida pelas empresas petrolíferas é inoportuna. Nesse particular, não se vislumbram alterações nessa constatação uma vez que a proposta de um novo modelo contábil de reconhecimento apresentada no DPEA se aproxima do método full cost, enquanto que as evidências do segundo estudo apontam para direção contrária ao sugerir que o método successful efforts gera informações mais oportunas do que o método concorrente. Assim, tem-se um cenário para se acreditar na manutenção do status quo vigente. / This paper aimed to identify the determining factors for the adoption of lobbying strategies regarding the accounting regulation of the oil sector, as well as to assess the quality of the accounting information of the companies from this sector. To meet these goals, three studies directed to each of the underlined aspects were used: determinants of the lobbying and characteristics of the interest groups (study 1); current status of the quality of accounting information from the oil sector (study 2) and empirical evidence for the questions of Discussion Paper Extractive Activities (study 3). To operationalize the studies, letters and comments sent to the IASB and the database of Evaluate Energy® were deployed, through the use of several econometric techniques such as simple and multiple linear regressions, binomial and multinomial logistic regression and Poisson regression in various sampling plans featuring information of the oil companies. The results indicate that the interest group formed by preparers of financial statements for the oil sector has economic incentives to undertake lobbying for an accounting regulation, in the sense of defending their interests according to the economic regulation theory, notably when size is taken into account. This interest group, within the plane of accounting choices, is in favor of using the historical cost as a basis of value and of the possibility of choice between two competitor accounting models (successful efforts and full cost) and unfavorable to the changes that lead to the increase of the disclosure level of the information. Supporting this position, there is the view of the primary users of financial statements that suggests that the accounting information provided by oil companies is valuable, at least from the perspective of relevance and conservatism, and indicates, yet, that the current group of information based on the historical cost is relevant to their economic decisions. Considering the huge support received by the proposal to expand the required disclosures, therein included the proposal of Publish What You Pay, there is rejection by the participants of the capital market indicating that the benefit resulting from the expansion of the disclosure shall not be greater than those already in existence, considering the current rules. In contrast, there is the view that the accounting information produced by oil companies is untimely. In this, particularly, alterations in this finding are not envisaged once the proposal of the new accounting model of recognition presented at DPEA approaches the full cost method, whereas evidence of the second study points to the opposite direction by suggesting that the successful efforts method generates more appropriate information than does the current method. Therefore, there is scenario to believe in the maintenance of the present status quo.

Submitted by Daniella Sodre (daniella.sodre@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-10T13:03:19Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação Bruno Souza.pdf: 3055649 bytes, checksum: 5cedaf83e4e87135a1f22f1bb7c1dd09 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-10T13:03:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação Bruno Souza.pdf: 3055649 bytes, checksum: 5cedaf83e4e87135a1f22f1bb7c1dd09 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-09-09 / FACEPE / Ambientes dinâmicos e distribuídos são sistemas descentralizados que fornecem aos usuários recursos de consultas sobre um conjunto de fontes de dados heterogêneas, distribuídas e autônomas (peers). Sistemas de Integração de Dados, Peer Data Management System (PDMS) e Dataspaces são exemplos de tais sistemas. Eles são constituídos por peers que pertencem a um domínio específico e estão ligados entre si por meio de correspondências semânticas. No entanto, um desafio inerente em ambientes dinâmicos e distribuídos é o processo de reformulação de consulta entre um par de peers. Quando um usuário coloca uma consulta em um peer, a fim de adquirir mais informações, a consulta deve ser reformulada de acordo com o esquema dos peers vizinhos. Neste processo podem surgir alguns problemas como a perda semântica e a degradação da consulta. A perda semântica e degradação da consulta são problemas relacionados à perda de conceitos semânticos durante a reformulação. Por outro lado, em um ambiente semanticamente rico, ao invés de uma perda semântica, a consulta pode ter um enriquecimento semântico por meio da agregação de conceitos semanticamente relacionados durante a reformulação. Neste sentido, a consulta do usuário pode ser enriquecida e resultados semânticos mais ricos podem ser recuperados. Critérios de qualidade da informação têm sido usados em alguns trabalhos para avaliar o nível de qualidade dos elementos de um ambiente dinâmico e distribuído como, por exemplo, peers, dados e a resposta da consulta. Estes critérios são medidas dinâmicas proporcionadas pelo sistema e servem como uma pontuação que pode ser constantemente avaliada para obter o nível real de qualidade. Neste trabalho, apresentamos quatro critérios de qualidade da informação que medem a perda e o ganho de conceitos semânticos durante a reformulação da consulta entre os pares de peers. Nós apresentamos um exemplo da nossa abordagem e os algoritmos de avaliação de critérios. Também damos as nossas definições para os problemas de perda semântica e degradação da consulta. Por fim, apresentamos a experimentação que fizemos com o PDMS SPEED e os resultados obtidos. / Dynamic distributed environments are decentralized systems that provide users with querying capabilities over a set of heterogeneous, distributed and autonomous data sources (peers). Data Integration Systems, Peer Data Management Systems (PDMS) and Dataspaces are examples of such systems. They are composed by peers that belong to a specific domain and are linked to each other by correspondences (semantic connections). Nonetheless, a challenge inherent to dynamic distributed environments is the query reformulation process between a pair of peers. When a user poses a query at a peer, in order to acquire more information, the query should be reformulated in accordance with the neighbor peers schema. In this process some problems as semantic loss and query degradation can arise. The semantic loss and query degradation are problems related to the loss of semantic concepts during query reformulation. In the other hand, in such a semantic environment instead of a semantic loss the query can have a semantic enrichment by aggregating semantic related concepts during reformulation. In this sense, the user’s query can be enriched and semantically richer results can be delivered. Information Quality criteria has been used in some works to evaluate the level of quality of the distributed dynamic environment’s elements such as, peers, data and query answer. These criteria are dynamic measures provided by the system and serve as scores that can be constantly evaluated to get the actual level of quality. In this work we present four Information Quality criteria that measure the loss and enrichment of semantic concepts during query reformulation among peers. We present an example of our analysis and the algorithms that implement the evaluation of the presented criteria. We also give our definitions to the semantic loss and query degradation problems. Finally, we present the experimentation we have done with the SPEED PDMS and the obtained results.

Behovet av högkvalitativ information är något som finns i alla organisationer. Tack vare teknikutvecklingen kan information flöda allt fortare, och genom alltfler kanaler. Informationsmängden har idag blivit så pass omfattande att vi människor många gånger har svårt att hantera informationen på ett effektivt sätt, vilket i sin tur kan leda till upplevt informationsöverflöd. Denna studies syfte var att undersöka hur aspekter av informationsöverflöd upplevs i perspektiv av informationskvalitet och belysa dessa utifrån distans- och kontorsarbete.   Wang & Strong (1996) har tagit fram en modell för att mäta informationskvalitet. Informationskvalitet är ett komplext begrepp och kan enligt författarna (1996) brytas ner i fyra aspekter vilka är tillförlitlighet, relevant, tillgänglighet och representativ information. Deras modell över informationskvalitet har varit denna studies utgångspunkt för analys av resultatet.  Undersökningen genomfördes enligt en kvalitativ metod med en abduktiv ansats. Datainsamlingen gjordes genom fem stycken semi-strukturerade individuella telefonintervjuer. Studiens deltagande informanter arbetar alla både på distans och på kontor.     Studiens resultat visar att det främst är bristen på relevant information som bidrar till upplevt informationsöverflöd. Eppler & Mengis (2004) presenterar fem stycken orsaker till informationsöverflöd, vilka är information, IT, arbetsuppgift och tid, individ samt organisation. Resultatet visar att bristen på relevant information bidrar till alla dessa fem orsaker. Informationsöverflöd upplevs som något mer märkbar på kontor där även den fysiska muntliga kommunikationen kan bidra till för mycket information. Inför genomförandet av denna studie var det inte förväntat att distansarbete kan väljas för att minska informationsöverflöd. Resultatet visar dock att informanterna många gånger väljer distansarbete för att kunna koppla bort sig från digitala och fysiska informationskanaler. Detta upplevs särskilt effektivt då mer komplexa arbetsuppgifter ska utföras.    Slutsatser som kan dras från den genomförda studien är att öppna kontorslandskap kan bidra med mer irrelevant information som en följd av den fysiska muntliga kommunikationen. Även kan slutsatsen dras att informationskvalitet och informationsöverflöd är två nära relaterade begrepp, men att bristen på informationskvalitet är det som bidrar med informationsöverflöd. I de fall när informationen i sig inte uppfyller kvalitetsaspekterna kan detta bidra till att individer upplever informationsöverflöd. / The amount of information has increased as a result of the technological development and it has become common to perceive information overload. This area is researched in office environments, however, we found no research in telecommuting. Low quality of information has been found through previous research as being one of the main reasons why we are experiencing information overload. In previous research, students were able to conclude that there was no research on the office and telecommuting experienced information overload. This study's problem is based on a scientific problem, were the students intended to examine how work in offices are perceived compared to teleworking in aspects of information quality and information overload. To illustrate the problem a qualitative method was selected. The study is based on semi-structured telephone interviews with five participating informants. This study's found that office environments contributed with more irrelevant information because of verbal communication. The students also came to the conclusion that the concepts of information quality and information overload are related to each other, but information quality is the overlying concept. Lack of information quality contributes to experienced information overload.

This work deals with the issue of Data and Information Quality. It critically assesses the current state of knowledge within tvarious methods used for Data Quality Assessment and Data (Information) Quality improvement. It proposes new principles where this critical assessment revealed some gaps. The main idea of this work is the concept of Data and Information Quality Management across the entire universe of data. This universe represents all data sources which respective subject comes into contact with and which are used under its existing or planned processes. For all these data sources this approach considers setting the consistent set of rules, policies and principles with respect to current and potential benefits of these resources and also taking into account the potential risks of their use. An imaginary red thread that runs through the text, the importance of additional knowledge within a process of Data (Information) Quality Management. The introduction of a knowledge base oriented to support the Data (Information) Quality Management (QKB) is therefore one of the fundamental principles of the author proposed a set of best

Orientador: Leonardo Castro Botega / Resumo: No contexto de gerenciamento de emergências, onde as informações são provenientes de fontes heterogêneas, é necessário que as tomadas de decisões sejam assertivas e dentro de um intervalo de tempo hábil. O tempo possui grande relevância por ser fundamental no domínio deste contexto, pois é criando uma linha do tempo, ou seja, ao decorrer dele, que se torna viável a percepção e compreensão de todas as características de uma situação, além de possibilitar a melhoria da qualidade da informação, a qual torna-se imprescindível no contexto de gerenciamento de emergências, considerando a complexidade e dinamicidade dos dados. Este trabalho objetiva a melhoria dos processos informacionais da recuperação da informação por meio da criação de um modelo com suporte semântico e temporal para que seja possível atender tais requisitos. A natureza deste trabalho é qualitativa, de finalidade teórico-aplicada e de tipo exploratória, sua metodologia conta com uma prova de conceito envolvendo situações de emergências de incêndio, na qual foi possível avaliar o comportamento da qualidade informação e inferir novos conhecimentos temporais que poderão servir de insumos para tomadas de decisões mais assertivas. / Abstract: In the context of emergency management, where information comes from heterogeneous sources, decision-making must be assertive and within a timely interval. Time has great relevance because it is fundamental in the domain of this context, because it is creating a timeline, that is, in the course of it, that it becomes feasible to perceive and understand all the characteristics of a situation, besides enabling the improvement of quality of information, which becomes indispensable in the context of emergency management, considering the complexity and dynamicity of the data. This work aims to improve the informational processes of information retrieval through the creation of a model with semantic and temporal support so that it is possible to meet these requirements. The nature of this work is qualitative, of theoretical-applied purpose and exploratory type, its methodology has a proof of concept involving situations of fire emergencies, in which it was possible to evaluate the behavior of quality information and infer new temporal knowledge that may serve as inputs for making more assertive decisions. / Mestre

The purpose of this thesis is to gain an understanding of how public agencies can increase theirbrand trust by adapting technologies and digital strategies which target inclusiveness forsocially vulnerable groups. To obtain the research purpose, the study explores how the SwedishTax Agency work to adapt its digital tools and the ways in which these digital tools contributeto gaining brand trust. The study was conducted as a qualitative single case study where datawas mainly collected using secondary data of official data published by the Swedish TaxAgency. In addition, employees at Swedish Tax Agency were interviewed, using a semistructured interview as the primary data collection method. The study concludes that there is aneed of both cognitive and affective trust in understanding how agencies can gain brand trustin e-government. They can also be corroborated with both traditional marketing literature andwith more recent literature in e-government.

Bakgrund: Modig Machine Tool AB står inför en tillväxtresa där implementeringen av “Lean” blev relevant för att skapa den organisation som krävs för att bemöta en förväntad ökad efterfrågan på deras produkter. Över tid har “Lean” utvecklats från att enbart vara ett sätt för att organisera produktionen till att numera inkludera hela organisationen, däribland de administrativa stödprocesserna. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att skapa ökad kunskap kring hur ekonomiavdelningen behöver anpassa sig vid införandet av “Lean” i Modig Machine Tool AB. Metod: Studien är en enfallsstudie där konsult, redovisningschef och medarbetare på ekonomiavdelningen har intervjuats. Intervjuerna har tagit formen av att vara semistrukturerade med anledning av den kvalitativa forskningsansatsen. Vidare framgår en motivering till den teoretiska materialinsamlingen med anledning av att skapa en djup förståelse till fenomenet att implementera “Lean”. Slutsats: Studien identifierar att ekonomiavdelningen behöver anpassa sig till implementeringen av “Lean” genom ökad kommunikation, att vara en del av att skapa en samlad personalstyrka och flexibel och snabb i sitt arbetssätt för att bemöta framtida ökad efterfrågan. Således konkluderar arbetet att ekonomiavdelningen är i behov av att utveckla åtgärder kopplade till avdelningsöverskridande kommunikation, en informationsplan, ena sig bakom en stark möteskultur, samt att anamma en lärande kultur. / Background and problem: Modig Machine Tool AB is embarking on a growth journey where the implementation of “Lean” has become relevant to create the organization required to meet the expected increased demand for their products. Over time, “Lean” has evolved from being solely a way to organize production to now encompassing the entire organization, including administrative support processes. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge about how the finance department needs to adapt to the implementation of “Lean” in Modig Machine Tool AB. Method: The study is a single-case study where a consultant, accounting manager, and employees in the finance department were interviewed. The interviews were semi-structured due to the qualitative research approach. Furthermore, a justification for the theoretical data collection is provided in order to gain a deep understanding of the phenomenon of implementing “Lean”. Conclusion: The study identifies that the finance department needs to adapt to the implementation of “Lean” through increased communication, being part of creating a cohesive workforce, and being flexible and agile in their work approach to meet future increased demand. Thus, this paper concludes that the finance department needs to develop measures linked to cross-functional communication, an information plan, unite behind a strong meeting culture, and to embrace a learning culture.

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