Rob Procter - Böcker

The nature of technical expertise has become increasingly important and problematic in the post-modern era, as structured hierarchies and production methods are revised. Financial services, one of our most important economic sectors, has also been confronting very high degrees of uncertainty that reflect great institutional and market changes. In this fluid and competitive environment technological change - in particular the widening scope of information technology (IT) - has become vitally important.This study is about the strategic uses of IT in retail financial services. It is based on the Scottish part of the industry, a highly cohesive sector in its own right, but one with universal linkages to UK and global finance. A set of seven case studies forms the empirical base, while the study also focuses on key strategic projects within these case companies. The purpose is to arrive at an understanding of how firms develop a strategic approach to IT.This hinges on the management of expertise - the ability to integrate detailed technological expertise with wider organizational and marketing goals. The study examines a number of themes around this key issue: the process of formation of IT strategy, sectorial influences on the implementation of computer-based systems, and the occupational and career factors that shape IT expertise.

Vast amounts of digital data are now generated daily by people as they go about their lives, yet social researchers are struggling to exploit it. At the same time, the challenges faced by society in the 21st century are growing ever more complex, and demands research that is bigger in scale, more collaborative and multi-disciplinary than ever before.

 

This cutting-edge volume provides an accessible introduction to innovative digital social research tools and methods that harness this ‘data deluge’ and successfully tackle key research challenges. Contributions from leading international researchers cover topics such as:

Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research Data management Social media and social network analysis Modeling and simulation Survey methods Visualizing social data Ethics and e-research The future of social research in the digital age

This vibrant introduction to innovative digital research methods is essential reading for anyone conducting social research today.

Vast amounts of digital data are now generated daily by people as they go about their lives, yet social researchers are struggling to exploit it. At the same time, the challenges faced by society in the 21st century are growing ever more complex, and demands research that is bigger in scale, more collaborative and multi-disciplinary than ever before.

 

This cutting-edge volume provides an accessible introduction to innovative digital social research tools and methods that harness this ‘data deluge’ and successfully tackle key research challenges. Contributions from leading international researchers cover topics such as:

Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research Data management Social media and social network analysis Modeling and simulation Survey methods Visualizing social data Ethics and e-research The future of social research in the digital age

This vibrant introduction to innovative digital research methods is essential reading for anyone conducting social research today.

‘User-designer relations’ concerns the sorts of working relationships that arise between developers and end users of IT products - the different ways designers of IT products seek to engage with users, and the ways users seek to influence product design. It is through the shifting patterns of these relations that IT products are realised. Although it has generally been accepted that achieving better user-designer relations will improve the quality of IT products, there has been little consensus on how this might be achieved. This book aims to deepen our understanding of the relationships between users and designers both as they emerge in the wild and as a consequence of our attempts to intervene. Through a series of case studies the book juxtaposes in-depth explorations of different perspectives and approaches to thinking about - and doing - user-designer relations, considering important implications for design and computer science more generally.

‘User-designer relations’ concerns the sorts of working relationships that arise between developers and end users of IT products - the different ways designers of IT products seek to engage with users, and the ways users seek to influence product design. It is through the shifting patterns of these relations that IT products are realised. Although it has generally been accepted that achieving better user-designer relations will improve the quality of IT products, there has been little consensus on how this might be achieved. This book aims to deepen our understanding of the relationships between users and designers both as they emerge in the wild and as a consequence of our attempts to intervene. Through a series of case studies the book juxtaposes in-depth explorations of different perspectives and approaches to thinking about - and doing - user-designer relations, considering important implications for design and computer science more generally.