Increasingly, organizations allocate a substantial financial budget to the acquisition, implementation, and management of IT solutions. IT solutions are employed strategic partners in supporting business strategic outcome, and the solutions are tools used to support operational activities within an environment. Given the vast amounts being invested in IT solutions and development, there is a need for a better return and outcome for organizations. Empowering Businesses With Collaborative Enterprise Architecture Frameworks is an essential reference source that provides readers with pragmatic, implementable strategies and direction to create IT with collaborative capabilities that can reduce the cost of running IT within an organization. Moreover, the book offers pragmatic roadmaps to adopting disruptive IT solutions effectively and efficiently and towards gaining a better understanding of enterprise architecture as a means to business decision making. Featuring research on topics such as business engineering, cloud computing, and open systems, this book is ideally designed for managers, directors, and other business decision makers; government and industry policymakers; business and enterprise architects; industry professionals; academicians; researchers; and students.

Even though the field of enterprise architecture (EA) has matured, many organisations still struggle with its development and implementation, particularly those organisations involved in continuous transformational cycles and subjected to different environmental trends. This book is intended to assist organisations in getting a grip on the factors influencing EA implementation and gaining a deeper understanding of why things happen the way they do in the practice of EA. It is a comprehensive and definitive resource that is useful to both business professionals and academics. The book presents an approach for the development, implementation, or institutionalisation of EA that is independent of any method or other architecture frameworks. It can be applied directly using a realistic selection of organizational variables. The approach has two distinctive features that support EA, even in complex environments: From both technical and non-technical perspectives, it identifies influencing factors and how they manifest in the practice of EA in an organization. It offers linear and practical mechanisms for developing and implementing EA to fortify the practice of the concept in an organisation. This approach represents a significant contribution to EA. Starting with descriptions for EA, the book offers deepened models and frameworks for the development and implementation of EA at the domain level. It also covers factors upon which a model is built for the institutionalisation of the concept. Additionally, the book discusses the implications of EA for sponsors, architects, and other stakeholders responsible for EA development, implementation, and institutionalisation.

As technology continues to advance, it is critical for businesses to implement systems that can support the transformation of data into information that is crucial for the success of the company. Without the integration of data (both structured and unstructured) mining in business intelligence systems, invaluable knowledge is lost. However, there are currently many different models and approaches that must be explored to determine the best method of integration. Integration Challenges for Analytics, Business Intelligence, and Data Mining is a relevant academic book that provides empirical research findings on increasing the understanding of using data mining in the context of business intelligence and analytics systems. Covering topics that include big data, artificial intelligence, and decision making, this book is an ideal reference source for professionals working in the areas of data mining, business intelligence, and analytics; data scientists; IT specialists; managers; researchers; academicians; practitioners; and graduate students.

Many industries have struggled to realize the importance of modern technology, but none more so than the construction industry. By employing various computer-aided management systems, construction businesses have increased their profitability and the systematic way their companies function. Managing Business in the Civil Construction Sector Through Information Communication Technologies supplies a compendium of innovative research that highlights the use of computer-aided design and tools and the vital role that such forms of information technology have to play in the actual production activities of any civil construction company. Subsequent chapters focus on equally vital areas such as that of construction management, contracts management, materials management, human resource management, and enterprise resource planning. Chapters on cloud computing technology, internet of things, and artificial intelligence enable readers to acquire an overview and grasp the basics of these latest trending technologies. This book is ideally designed for construction firms, students, entrepreneurs, industry professionals, IT consultants, and academicians.

Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) risk considers the nonfinancial risks that could arise in a business, such as sustainability, brand reputation, legal aspects, ethics, and more. As businesses all have their own risk profiles, there is a need for risk management and mitigation that is unique for each company. Because of this variability, the study on ESG risk factors and motives of incorporating the ESG perspective into business models are crucial yet challenging. Therefore, it is important to understand how companies are adapting and mitigating ESG risk in diverse types of businesses. Adapting and Mitigating Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk in Business examines processes in enterprises that can increase the sustainability of business models and their coherence with the assumptions of the concept of sustainable development and ESG risk. Furthermore, the book explores how enterprises operating in different sectors are adapting their business models towards sustainability in order to create sustainable value. This book is a valuable tool for managers, executives, entrepreneurs, practitioners, academicians, researchers, and graduate students in finance, business, and management.

In recent decades, the industrial revolution has increased economic growth despite its immersion in global environmental issues such as climate change. Researchers emphasize the adoption of circular economy practices in global supply chains and businesses for better socio-environmental sustainability without compromising economic growth. Integrating blockchain technology into business practices could promote the circular economy as well as global environmental sustainability. Integrating Blockchain Technology Into the Circular Economy discusses the technological advancements in circular economy practices, which provide better results for both economic growth and environmental sustainability. It provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings in the applications of blockchain technology. Covering topics such as big data analytics, financial market infrastructure, and sustainable performance, this book is an essential resource for managers, operations managers, executives, manufacturers, environmentalists, researchers, industry practitioners, students and educators of higher education, and academicians.

Competencies historically have been vital for skill building, and competency-based approaches have demonstrated their impact on business performance and organizational effectiveness in today’s marketplace. However, this has been discussed exclusively in chapters and books as separate propositions. It is essential to understand the two as linked together, building upon the other, merging individual and organizational perspectives of competencies development. Building Competencies for Organizational Success: Emerging Research and Opportunities presents a narrowly focused discussion of competency-based approaches and performance management and examines how these concepts align with business processes and procedures, management systems, and business objectives. It brings to light a new era of business performance management that complements the collaborative working of individuals and organizations to achieve business desires and addresses such topics as competent organization, knowledge management, and performance management systems. This book helps leaders, managers, executives, consultants, practitioners, academicians, researchers, and students with the understanding of how to utilize intellectual assets as well as how to develop a better future and outcomes for business and people management.

Due to such factors as poor economic conditions, climate change, and conflict, food security remains an issue around the world and especially in developing nations. Rapid changes in technology over the last decade has brought a renewed focus on how information and communication technologies (ICTs) and application systems are deployed to improve rural competitiveness. Unfortunately, agricultural stakeholders in developing countries, particularly in Africa, have not been able to reap comparable benefits from adopting agricultural information systems as compared to their counterparts in the developed economies. Understanding the challenges that hinder the effective adoption of agricultural information systems and identifying opportunities or innovations is imperative to improve the agricultural sectors and overcome the problems in these developing economies. Opportunities and Strategic Use of Agribusiness Information Systems is an essential reference book that examines the key challenges that hinder the effective adoption of agricultural information systems. Moreover, it identifies and evaluates opportunities for the strategic deployment of ICTs and information systems to drive agricultural development for the benefit of agricultural sector stakeholders in emerging countries. While highlighting such topics as agricultural entrepreneurship, food value chain, and innovation systems, it is intended to provide sound and relevant frameworks and tools that will aid agricultural industry practitioners, smallholder farmers, and managers of agricultural extension systems looking to make more effective and responsible decisions when selecting, planning, deploying, and managing agribusiness information systems. It is additionally targeted for agricultural funding organizations, government policymakers, academicians, researchers, and students concerned with exploiting the potential of a variety of ICTs and information systems in the quest to achieve food security and poverty reduction in emerging economies.

As various areas of discipline continue to progress into the digital age, diverse modes of technology are being experimented with and ultimately implemented into common practices. Mobile products and interactive devices, specifically, are being tested within educational environments as well as corporate business in support of online learning and e-commerce initiatives. There is a boundless stock of factors that play a role in successfully implementing web technologies and user-driven learning strategies, which require substantial research for executives and administrators in these fields. The Handbook of Research on User Experience in Web 2.0 Technologies and Its Impact on Universities and Businesses is an essential reference source that presents research on the strategic role of user experience in e-learning and e-commerce at the level of the global economy, networks and organizations, teams and work groups, and information systems. The book assesses the impact of e-learning and e-commerce technologies on different organizations, including higher education institutions, multinational corporations, health providers, and business companies. Featuring research on topics such as ubiquitous interfaces, computer graphics, and image processing, this book is ideally designed for program developers and designers, researchers, practitioners, IT professionals, executives, academicians, and students.

Digital transformation is reshaping the business arena as new, successful digital business models are increasing agility and presenting better ways to handle business than the traditional alternatives. Industry 4.0 affects everything in our daily lives and is blurring the line between the physical, the biological, and the digital. This created an environment where technology and humans are so closely integrated that it is impacting every activity within the organizations. Specifically, contracting processes and procedures are challenged to align with the new business dynamics as traditional contracts are no longer fitting today's agile and continuously changing environments. Businesses are required to facilitate faster, more secure, soft, and real-time transactions while protecting stakeholders’ rights and obligations. This includes agile contracts which are dynamically handling scope changes, smart contracts that can automate rule-based functions, friction-less contracts that can facilitate different activities, and opportunity contracts that looks toward the future. Innovative and Agile Contracting for Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0 analyzes the consequences, benefits, and possible scenarios of contract transformation under the pressure of new technologies and business dynamics in modern times. The chapters cover the problems, issues, complications, strategies, governance, and risks related to the development and enforcement of digital transformation contracting practices. While highlighting topics in the area of digital transformation and contracting such as artificial intelligence, digital business, emerging technologies, and blockchain, this book is ideally intended for business, engineering, and technology practitioners and policy makers, along with practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in understanding the scope, complexity, and importance of innovative contracts and agile contracting.