Professor, Saïd Assar, The Institute Mines – Telecom Business School
How did you come in contact with Karlstad Business School?
- I got in contact with Karlstad Business School via a former colleague and research partner, Dr Sana Skandrani, Senior Lecturer at the Information Systems department in KBS. Dr Sana Skandrani used to attend and participate regularly in our research seminars at Institut Mines Telecom Business School, and she continues to collaborate with some colleagues in my institution.
What will you contribute during your stay with Karlstad Business School?
- During this short stay, I will first teach in the course entitled Electronic Business and Enterprise Systems (ISAD27) for students in the Master in Information Systems, in collaboration with Dr Odd Fredriksson. I will be giving a lecture about Enterprise Architecture and Enterprise Modeling. I will also participate in a research seminar and give a talk about my academic profile and ongoing research activities.
Please, tell us about your current research
- My academic profile has been shaped by multiples and diverse collaborations and research activities conducted in the last twenty years, moving from IS modeling to IS usage and governance with a rising interest in research method and their specificities for the IS discipline. My current research focus on two main topics via the supervision of Ph.D. students: the impact of Blockchain on Supply Chain, and the effect of explainability on AI adoption and usage in a public administration.
The challenges with digital transformation is listed in your research profile – what can you tell us about that area?
- Digital Transformation is the new way of looking on the effect and impact of IT on enterprises. Since the first Cobol programs in the 60’, IT was fundamentally a tool to enhance and optimize business operations and decision-making. Recent digital technologies, e.g., social networks, Cloud Computing, big data, AI, Blockchain, etc., have a broader and deeper effect on enterprises and organizations. They give rise to new business opportunities, they tend to change radically the way business operations are conducted, and open the way for new business opportunities. They also give rise to multiple challenges related to cybersecurity, data privacy, process conformance and regulation, work and organization transformation, etc. The academic challenge nowadays is to understand these phenomena’s and develop theories to explain and predict their outcome; also, managers are in need for case studies, best practices and guiding principles for their ongoing Digital Transformation projects.
What are your expectations of visiting Karlstad Business School?
- I expect to discover and get to know better a business school operating in Sweden, and to meet with colleagues and potential research partners. I would like also to envision further collaboration with my business school in terms of Erasmus funded student and faculty exchanges and pedagogical collaborative projects.
