Australian Computer Society: ACS Digital Library
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A Goal-driven Risk Management approach for Distributed Agile Development Projects
Get PDFSoftware companies are now using Distributed Agile Development (DAD) in order to create high quality solutions, which aligns with the business priorities of lesser time and cost. Although, DAD is beneficial, there are significant risks involved in such projects. In order to minimize the adverse effect of risks on DAD projects, it is imperative to understand, how the risks impact the project performance goals including ‘Time’, ‘Cost’ and ‘Quality’. In this paper we present a goal driven approach for managing risks in DAD projects. This approach of risk management will enable project managers to identify the most important risks with respect to the goal to be achieved and focus on managing those risks first. The study shows that if ‘Time’ is a considered goal for a DAD project, the most important risks that would need consideration are related to requirement management, architecture changes and coordination issues between stakeholders. Similarly, if ‘Quality’ is the primary performance goal in a DAD project, it would be necessary to first deal with risks related to internal and external communication in the organization, team collaboration and requirement documentation availability. The awareness of top ranking risk factors that impact a particular project goal will assist the projects managers to control the risks in a way that the desired project goals can be achieved
The Importance of Ethical Conduct by Penetration Testers in the Age of Breach Disclosure Laws.
Get PDF Across the globe, there has been a noticeable increase in the adoption of breach disclosure laws that are designed to protect the privacy of individuals. To validate the security controls implemented by an organisation to protect sensitive data, penetration testers are often engaged to test the security of information systems and to report any vulnerabilities. Using an interpretivist, constructivist approach, this article reports on a pilot study that compares USA and Australian approaches to ethical hacking. The need for regulation of ethical hacking to help protect organisations from unethical conduct was a recurring theme. With the changes in privacy regulations across the world, unauthorised disclosure of personal and privileged information could result in significant consequences. This paper explores the importance of ethical conduct by penetration testers based on empirical research and the potential for misuse of information
Resource-Based View of Information Systems: Sustainable and Transient Competitive Advantage Perspectives
Get PDFThe resource-based view (RBV), or resource-based theory, is one of the oldest and most influential theories in the field of information systems. This paper contends that it is timely to revisit, reflect on, and reposition RBV to ensure its continued disciplinary relevance and progress. In doing so, this paper (i) provides a succinct and sharp evaluation of the conventional RBV of information systems that firms use to establish sustainable competitive advantage, and (ii) makes an original contribution by introducing a contemporary RBV of information systems that firms can use to establish transient competitive advantage. Both these contributions should advance the current and future understanding of information systems as (a) an internal firm resource, (b) a source of competitive advantage, and (c) a driver of firm performance
An investigation into failure of Internet firms: Towards development of a conceptual model
Get PDFThe last two decades have witnessed an exponential growth in internet and social media based commerce in China, resulting in a number of foreign Internet firms launching their businesses to capitalize on the market opportunities. Surprisingly though, having been successful globally, these firms were not able to remain competitive in China, with majority of them suffering losses from their failed ventures, and ceasing their operations. Despite this ongoing problem, little or no research exists that might explain what is causing these problems. Addressing this gap in knowledge, we build literature-based insights and through our analysis, we: (1) provide a structured understanding of some of the major issues causing failures, (2) identify and categorize factors/sources of failures into internal versus external driven, and (3) grounded in theory and supplemented by literature evidence, develop hypotheses and a corresponding conceptual model explaining the relationships among these factors/sources and the failure of foreign Internet firms. The proposed model serves as a means by which Information systems managers / Chief Information Officers / Technology and Business managers can understand the sources of failures and conduct an introspective exercise within the firm to plug some gaps before launching a business in a foreign country. Academically, the study has developed a theoretically-grounded comprehensive model to advance knowledge in a scantly researched area of challenges faced by the foreign Internet firms and to help in the development of strategies to mitigate these problems. The proposed model also adds to the current knowledge on information systems socio-technical theory and Comparative theory of Competitive Advantage
Getting it right! Critical Success Factors of BPM in the Public Sector: A Systematic Literature Review
Get PDFThe continuously evolving and dynamic social, economic, political environments and public pressures demand governments to deliver effective and efficient public services. In the quest for meeting these demands, governments respond by designing extensive reforms and performance objectives to improve the efficiency and responsiveness of their agencies. Many governments have adopted Business Process Management (BPM) as a strategy to achieve these reforms. However, the successful implementation of BPM initiatives has been a challenging task for agencies responsible for these initiatives, with many projects not reaching completion or not achieving the intended outcomes. This paper reports the results of a systematic literature review on critical success factors (CSFs) related to BPM projects in the public sector. We analysed 31 papers in this review covering both the developed and developing country contexts, sourced from refereed and peer reviewed journals. A quasi-deductive approach was applied for the qualitative data analysis using NVivo 10 software. This resulted in the synthesis and identification of 14 critical success factors of BPM in the public sector, each defined and described in detail with specific attention to the sub-factors mentioned within the literature. Any differences between developed and developing country contexts were sought for, and the observations critically analysed. We propose a series of research questions, designed to support the progression of BPM in the public sector of developed as well as developing countries
Investigating different patterns of student engagement with blended learning environments in Australian business education: Implications for design and practice
Get PDFThis research reports on a diverse student audience engaging in an Australian university’s undergraduate commerce program core unit which was offered across three separate geographic campus locations and online. The research extends upon work undertaken on student engagement in online settings and lies in the domain of blended learning design and practice in the Australian higher education business context. The research adopted a dual-period surveying approach aimed at comparing patterns of student engagement within a major business subject offered in two different trimesters in one academic year. The survey analysis compared student perceptions of engagement with the subject and identified significant variations in patterns of engagement based on key background and demographic factors. Findings, inter alia, are presented across seven major student engagement dimensions as applied to the interplay between online and located/campus learning (i.e. Online Active Learning, Online Social Interaction, Online Collaboration, Online Teaching, Online Assessment, Online Relevance, and Online Contact with Staff). Implications for blended learning design, eLearning and practice in such complex environments involving diverse student audiences are examined
Factors That Influence Adoption of Cloud Computing: An Empirical Study of Australian SMEs
Get PDFCloud computing is a recent computing paradigm enabling organizations to have access to sophisticated computing services via the Internet on a fee-for-service basis. It provides Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) with opportunities to become as technologically advanced as their larger counterparts, without significant financial outlays. This paper examined the important factors that influence SMEs’ adoption of cloud computing technology. Drawing upon aspects of the Technology, Organization and Environment framework and Diffusion of Innovation Theory, we developed a research model of SMEs’ adoption of cloud computing and tested it through an online survey of 149 Australian SMEs. Data was analyzed using multiple regression methods, with results showing that SMEs were influenced by factors related to advantaging their organizational capability (i.e., relative advantage, quality of service and awareness) rather than risk-related factors (i.e., security, privacy and flexibility). The findings offer insights to SMEs owners, Cloud service providers and government in establishing Cloud computing adoption strategies for SMEs
The effect of “Internet of Things” on supply chain integration and performance: An organisational capability perspective
Get PDFThe Internet of things (IoT) is a next generation of Internet connected embedded ICT systems in a digital environment to seamlessly integrate supply chain and logistics processes. Integrating emerging IoT into the current ICT systems can be unique because of its intelligence, autonomous and pervasive applications. However, research on the IoT adoption in supply chain domain is scarce and acceptance of the IoT into the retail services in specific has been overly rhetoric. This study is drawn upon the organisational capability theory for developing an empirical model considering the effect of IoT capabilities on multiple dimensions of supply chain process integration, and in turn improves supply chain performance as well as organisational performance. Cross-sectional survey data from 227 Australian retail firms was analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results indicate that IoT capability has a positive and significant effect on internal, customer-, and supplier-related process integration that in turn positively affects supply chain performance and organisational performance. Theoretically, the study contributes to a body of knowledge that integrates information systems research into supply chain integration by establishing an empirical evidence of how IoT-enabled process integration can enhance the performance at both supply chain and organisational level. Practically, the results inform the managers of the likely investment on IoT that can lead to chain’s performance outcome
Towards a product independent ERP training model: An Insight from a literature review
Get PDFERP can be called as one of the most significant contributions of computer science and particularly information systems for the business environment which can support all complicated business process of an organisation including sale, purchase, warehouse and manufacturing into a single database. For such complex system like ERP, implementation involves much collaboration which raises the concern of the success of the project. Among most significant success and failure factors of ERP implementation cited in the literature are training and consultation. For many years the majority of ERP vendors promote their product specific training models as long-term and expensive allowing the organisation to gain knowledge of the ERP system and the way it handles the business process. However, recent studies showed that ERP training can be conducted in the short term and with minimum investment and yet to be effective. Findings triggered a signal and opened a new door for research to investigate vendor-independent training models that require limited investment in training and consultancy. This paper aims to provide an overview of the literature; highlighting the research methods and theories used by authors towards building ERP training models and methods
Dialectic Antidotes to Critics of the Technology Acceptance Model: Conceptual, Methodological, and Replication Treatments for Behavioural Modelling in Technology-Mediated Environments
Get PDFThe technology acceptance model (TAM) is a prominent and parsimonious conceptual lens that is often applied for behavioural modelling in technology-mediated environments. However, TAM has received a great deal of criticism in recent years. This article aims to address some of the most pertinent issues confronting TAM through a rejoinder that offers dialectic antidotes—in the form of conceptual, methodological, and replication treatments—to support the continued use of TAM to understand the peculiarities of user interactions with technology in technology-mediated environments. In doing so, this article offers a useful response to a common but often inadequately answered question about how TAM can continue to be relevant for behavioural modelling in contemporary technology-mediated environments