Dr Farshad Badie
Dr Farshad Badie is a Lecturer, Postdoctoral Centre Coordinator and Scientific Journal Associate Editor at Berlin School of Business & Innovation (BSBI).
The point of departure is a special focus on the importance of observing information science from the perspective of operations science in the age of information-based technologies. Since I believe that ‘operations science’ deals with carefully analysing and assessing different operational processes to analyse and understand how various products and services are producible, I am going to focus on information-based technologies from the perspective of operations science. In such a framework, operational processes (in information-based technologies) would be defined as a series of actions or activities which are taken/processed in order to achieve a particular product or service at the end.
I highly believe that one of the most important operational characteristics of modern information-based technologies is their concentration on values. In the age of information-based technologies, ‘values’ are the products of humans’ conceptions of the importance of something (e.g., some digital device, some specific graphical user interface). In the age of information-based technologies, values are the outcomes of humans’ conceptualisation, interpretation, understanding, and determination of what they need, as well as of what [kinds of] activities and processes are required to be done. In addition, values are concerned with the significance of different operational activities in different scenarios.
It can also be summarised that values can be regarded as some standards or ideals with, and based on, which we can evaluate human beings, their activities, their goals, and their situations in the world. In the age of information-based technologies, we can classify values into two categories personal (individualistic) values and group-based values.
Personal (individualistic) values are cognitively associated with an individual human being’s conceptualisation and comprehension. For example, someone may regard frugalness as his/her most significant value and, accordingly, develop his/her activities in a way to, e.g., produce, buy, and sell cheap digital devices. However, group-based values are cognitively associated with a group’s conceptualisation and comprehension (that can be analysed in the context of different collaborations, co-activations, co-operations, and co-ordinations in a group). For example, one company may regard resistance as their most essential value and, relying on such a value, model and develop their operational activities in a way to produce more resistant digital devices.
Values (both personal and group-based) are, existentially, either moral or aesthetic. Moral values help individuals or groups to determine what is morally (as well as ethically) right or wrong. For example, fairness, equity, success, and victory are some examples of moral values. Moral values are especially used to evaluate our world and environment (which are both very important in the age of information-based technologies). Moreover, aesthetic values are associated with some individual’s (or a group’s) evaluation of being aesthetic (as well as pleasing and beautiful). We can find many relevant examples in the operational aspects of information-based technologies (for example, in the design of interfaces, or in the ease of use of some mobile phones).
Values are very important in our world. In the age of information-based technologies, based on their created and developed values, human beings express themselves, get connected, focus on their daily activities, and deal with their operational processes.
