Integration Of Service Providers Research Articles

Business Analytics in Strategic Purchasing: Identifying and Evaluating Similarities in Supplier Documents

ABSTRACT The increasing digitalization in the automotive industry is influencing the structure of the traditional value chain and calls for the handling of large amounts of data to remain competitive in a constantly changing environment. This results in new challenges for purchasing management, which has to cope with agile integration of service providers as well as interorganizational process automation using electronic data exchange platforms. This work analyzes the electronic document stream on supplier management platforms by proposing an automated text mining framework. Both textual components, e. g., requests for information and offers, and narrative material, e. g., financial and calculation data, are being analyzed by topic modeling and descriptive statistics. The methodological approach is introduced and illustrated by the use case of service provider documents in purchasing processes. The results reveal financial potential for purchasing and generally contribute to supply chain cost management.

Towards an Approach for Weaving Preferences into Web Services Operation

Existing approaches on Web services privacy dominate solutions from a users’ perspective, giving little consideration to the preferences of Web service providers. The integration of service providers’ preferences into Web services’ operations is discussed in this paper. A Web service provider indicates peer Web services that it could interact with as well as the data that they could exchange with. We focus on Privacy and (trust) Partnership preferences based on which, we develop a Specification for Privacy and Partnership Preferences (S3P). This specification suggests a list of exceptional actions to deploy at run-time when these preferences are not met. An integration model of these preferences into Web services design is illustrated throughout a running scenario, and an implementation framework proves the S3P concept. Index Terms—Composition, Partnership, Privacy, Preference, Web service.

Models of care for socially isolated older rural carers: barriers and implications

In response to population ageing, the numbers of older carers residing in rural areas are increasing. However, rural older carers are at risk of social isolation due to the decreased social networks associated with ageing and caring responsibilities, and the geographical isolation associated with rurality. This broad, systematic review of the literature was undertaken to: (1) identify barriers to social participation for rural older carers; and (2) summarise features of interventions that were effective in reducing social isolation for rural and/or older carers. Literature was obtained through systematic searches of selected electronic databases; selected Australian and international government and research based websites and Google Scholar. Searches were limited to material published from 1999 to 2009, and literature was included which either identified barriers to social participation, or outlined interventions that were effective in reducing social isolation and increasing social support in rural and/or older carers. 67 articles, book chapters and reports identified which addressed the review objectives. Findings indicate that rural older carers experience considerable barriers to socialisation, and six dimensions are identified that are effective in reducing barriers, decreasing social isolation and increasing social participation. Interventions must address individual needs; incorporate a dual carer-care recipient focus and/or an educational component; facilitate informal social interaction; utilise existing networks and experienced personnel; and be both sustainable and long term. Reducing social isolation in rural older carers is a two-stage process. First, barriers to attendance, both logistical and perceived, must be addressed, and the focus of the intervention must be relevant to the carer. Second, opportunities for informal social interaction must be maximised within the intervention. However, a secondary focus may be necessary to ensure attendance, and the provision of education is also integral to achieving long-term outcomes. Integration of service providers in an informal capacity is also important in providing long-term support options. Addressing these issues will assist in developing interventions for rural older carers that are both appropriate and sustainable.