Electronic Business Media

Electronic Business Media

According to Schmid cite web|url=http://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/Personen/Beat_Schmid|title=UNISG Professor Beat Schmid] , media can basically be defined as follows: They are enablers of interaction, i.e. they allow for exchange, particularly the communicative exchange between agents. Individuals, organizations or machines can assume the role of agents. To finally allow for interaction, physical or informational objects are required. Agents may then create, modify, delete or exchange these objects with the help via a medium.

Such interaction enablers can be structured into three main components:

First, a physical component ("C-Component") allows for the actual interaction of physical agents. This component can also be referred to as carrier medium or channel system. Second, a logical component ("L-Component") comprises a common “language”, i.e. symbols used for the communication between agents and their semantics. Without such a common understanding, the exchange of data is possible (with the help of the C-Component), but not the exchange of knowledge. Third, an organizational component ("O-Component") defines a structural organization of agents, their roles, rules which impact the agents’ behaviour as well as the process-oriented organization of agents’ interactions.

Together, these basic three components have been identified to constitute various kinds of media. Among others, it is appropriate to describe electronic media such as those deployed to support cross-organizational collaboration. Based on these components which already represent a first, scientific approach to modelling, understanding and reorganizing media, a layer/ phase reference model has been introduced as well.

The Media Reference Model (MRM) [>cite paper | url=http://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/Publikationen/9479| title=Elements of a Reference Model for Electronic Markets | accessdate=2008-02-21 | author=Schmid, Beat F. ; Lindemann, Markus; | publisher=Proceedings of the Thirty-First Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences-Volume, IEEE Computer Society | date=1998] comprises four different layers (which all represent dedicated views on media) and structures the use of media into four sequential phases. Similar to the emerging field of software engineering in the software context, the MRM aims to provide a comprehensive, coherent and systematic framework for the description and analysis of various media.

The Community View (first layer) thereby accounts for the set of interacting agents, the organization of the given agents’ population, i.e. the specific roles of involved stakeholders, the situations in which they act as well as the objects with which they deal. Summing up, it models the structure of the social community sphere in a situation-dependent, but static fashion. The Process View (Implementation Aspects) deals with the modelling of the process-oriented organization of agents and can also be referred to as “Interaction Programming” . It is also called implementation view as it connects the needs of the community with the means provided by the carrier medium and thus implements the “community-plot” on the basis of the carrier medium. The Service View (Transaction View) models the services provided by the carrier medium which can be used in the different interaction steps to reach the respective interactions’ goals. The Infrastructure View models the production system, which creates the services provided by the service view, i.e. in the case of electronic media the actual underlying information technology.

The above discussed three major components can seamlessly be integrated into the MRM: The upper two views (Community Aspects and Implementation Aspects) represent the organizational component (O-Component) which accounts for the structural as well as process-oriented organization. The lower two layers are mapped to the physical component (C-Component) which focuses on the creation and provision of services. Last, the logical component (L-Component) concerns all four layers as it ensures that interaction of agents is based on a common understanding of exchanged symbols.

References

* Schmid, Beat F. ; Schmid-Isler, Salome: Konzepte von Beat F. Schmid 1997-2003. Ein Überblick, 2004.- URL http://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/Publikationen/9118
* Herrmann, Andreas ; Schmid, Beat F. ; Algesheimer , René ; Dimpfel, Marcus: Understanding Electronic Agents. In: Electronic Markets (2007), Nr. forthcoming
* Schmid, Beat F.: Communities and Media - Towards a Reconstruction of Communities on Media. In: Sprague, E. (Hrsg.): Proceedings of the 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences : IEEE Press, 2001.- 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences.- Maui, Hawaii.- URL http://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/Publikationen/9140
* Schmid, Beat F. ; Stanoevska-Slabeva, Katarina: Requirements Analysis for Community Supporting Platforms Based on the Media Reference Model. In: Electronic Markets 10 (2000), Nr. 4, S. 250-257
* Schmid, Beat F. ; Klose, Martina ; Lechner, Ulrike: Media - A Formal Model of Communities and Platforms. Proc. of the Workshop on Formal Models of Electronic Commerce (FMEC). Erasmus University Rotterdam : Rotterdam School of Management, 1999.- URL http://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/Publikationen/9517
* Schmid, Beat F. ; Schmid-Isler, Salome ; Stanoevska-Slabeva, Katarina ; Lechner, Ulrike: Structuring and Systemizing Knowledge - Realizing the Encyclopedia concept as a Knowledge Medium. In, 1999.- Proceedings of the IRMA - Information Resources Management Association Conference -"Information Technology in Libraries".- Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA.- URL http://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/Publikationen/9221
* Schmid, Beat F. ; Yu, Lei: A Conceptual Framework for Agent Oriented and Role Based Workflow Modelling, 1999.- URL http://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/Publikationen/9220
* Schmid, Beat F. ; Lindemann, Markus: Elements of a Reference Model for Electronic Markets. In: Thirty-First Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences-Volume 4. St. Gallen : IEEE Computer Society, 1998.- WI' 97, Tutorium "Elektronische Märkte", S. 193-201.- URL http://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/Publikationen/9479
* Schmid, Beat F. ; Lechner, Ulrike: A Computational Media Metaphor. In, 1998.- Workshop on Algebraic Development and Techniques ADT 98, held in conjunction with the 1st European Joint Conference on Theory and Practice of Software (ETAPS) 1998.- Lisboa, Portugal.- URL http://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/Publikationen/9467
* Schmid, Beat F. ; Stanoevska-Slabeva, Katarina: Knowledge Media: An Innovative Concept and Technology for Knowledge Management in the Information Age. In, 1998.- Beyond Convergence, 12th Biennal International Telecommunications Society Conference.- Stockholm, Sweden.- URL http://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/Publikationen/9455
* Schmid, Beat F. ; Schubert, Petra ; Lincke, David Michael: A Global Knowledge Medium as a Virtual Community - The NetAcademy Concept. In, 1998.- Annual Americas Conference on Information Systems.- Baltimore, Maryland.- URL http://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/Publikationen/9454
* Schmid, Beat F.: The Concept of Media. In: Lee, R. (Hrsg.), 1997.- Euridis Conference. Fourth Research Symposium on Electronic Markets: Negotiation and Settlement in Electronic Markets.- Maastricht (NL), Erasmus Universität Rotterdam.- URL http://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/Publikationen/9574
* Schmid, Beat F.: Requirements for Electronic Markets Architecture. In: Electronic Markets 7 (1997), Nr. 1, p. 3-5
* Schroth, Christoph: A Service-oriented Reference Architecture for Organizing Cross-Company Collaboration. In: 4th International Conference Interoperability for Enterprise Software and Applications (I-ESA 2008) and: Enterprise Interoperability III: New Challenges and Industrial Approaches (K. Mertins, R. Ruggaber, K. Popplewell, X. Xu, Editors). London : Springer, 2008.- 4th International Conference Interoperability for Enterprise Software and Applications (I-ESA 2008).- Berlin, Germany.- ISBN 1848002203
* Schroth, Christoph: Industrialization strategies for cross-organizational information intensive services. In: 4th International Conference Interoperability for Enterprise Software and Applications (I-ESA 2008) and: Enterprise Interoperability III: New Challenges and Industrial Approaches (K. Mertins, R. Ruggaber, K. Popplewell, X. Xu, Editors). London : Springer, 2008.- 4th International Conference Interoperability for Enterprise Software and Applications (I-ESA 2008).- Berlin, Germany.- ISBN 1848002203
* Schmid, Beat F. ; Schroth, Christoph: Organizing as Programming: A Reference Model for Cross-Organizational Collaboration. In: Proceedings of the 9th IBIMA Conference on Information Management in Modern Organizations, 2008.- 9th IBIMA Conference on Information Management in Modern Organizations.- Marrakech, Morocco.- ISBN 0-9753393-8-9, S. 16
* Schroth, Christoph: A Reference Model for Seamless Cross-Organizational Collaboration in the Public Sector. In: Multikonferenz Wirtschaftsinformatik 2008 (M. Bichler, T. Hess, H. Krcmar, U. Lechner, F. Matthes, A. Picot, B. Speitkamp, P. Wolf, Editors). Berlin : © GITO-Verlag, 2008.- Multikonferenz Witschaftsinformatik (MKWI 2008).- Munich, Germany.- ISBN 978-3-940019-34-9, S. 377-388