Australian Computer Society: ACS Digital Library
Not a member yet
884 research outputs found
Sort by
Design Theory in Information Systems
Get PDFThe aim of this paper is to explore an important category of information systems knowledge that is termed “design theory”. This knowledge is distinguished as the fifth of five types of theory: (i) theory for analysing and describing, (ii) theory for understanding, (iii) theory for predicting, (iv) theory for explaining and predicting, and (v) theory for design and action. Examples of design theory in information systems are provided, with associated research methods. The limited understanding and recognition of this type of theory in information systems indicates that further debate concerning its nature and role in our discipline is needed
Database Security and the Problem of Polyinstantiation: a moral scrutiny
Get PDFIn the area of computer security the problem of polyinstantiation is widely recognized. The research on polyinstantiation can be considered morally questionable, since it involves lying. This being the case, a moral scrutiny on the problem of polyinstantiation is warranted. The morality of polyinstantiation shall be critically analysed from the viewpoint of a moral philosophical framework. The moral philosophical framework used includes 1) Kantian ethics, 2) the universality theses advocated by Hare, Rawls, Gewirth, Jewish-Christian ethics, and Confucian ethics, 3) utilitarianism, and 4) Theory of Information Ethics (IE) by Floridi. The result of this analysis suggests that research and practice on polyinstantiation is morally questionable, at least in the light of the chosen moral philosophical theories. The aim of the paper is not, however, to deem polyinstantiation as morally wrong altogether, but to provide researchers and practitioners with tools and insights for analyzing the morality of polyinstantiation in different cases. Moreover, the results suggest that, as far as polyinstantiation is concerned, traditional ethics theories seem to be at least as adequate as IE
Business On-Line? An Empirical Study of Factors Leading to the Adoption of Internet Technologies by Australian SMEs
Get PDFE-commerce technologies such as a Web site, email and the use of Web browsers enable access to large amounts of information, facilitate communication and provide niche companies with an effective mechanism for competing with larger organisations world-wide. However, recent literature has shown Australian SMEs have been slow in the uptake of these technologies. The aim of this research was to determine which factors were important in impacting on small firms’ decision making in respect of information technology and e-commerce adoption. Findings indicate that generally, the more a firm was concerned about its competitive position, so such a firm was likely to develop a Web site. Moreover, the ‘Industry and Skill Demands’ dimension suggested that as the formal education of the owner/manager increased, coupled with the likelihood that the firm was in the transport and storage or communication services industries, and realising the cost of IT adoption was in effect an investment, then such a firm would be inclined to develop a Web site. Firms that were presented with relatively geographically dispersed markets, and realising it was necessary to go through the time consuming process of adopting various IT to reach these markets, were more likely to adopt Web sites. Lastly, owners/managers who reported their knowledge of business uses of computers was poor and who were likely to ask for support in installing and utilizing IT were also more likely to use Web sites than those who did not share these characteristics
Consensus Building Through Systems Thinking: the case of policy and planning in healthcare
Get PDFThis paper discusses a methodology and a case study using qualitative system dynamics to create consensus, team learning and shared vision in a public organisation. The case involves determining planning priorities for a Division of the Ministry of Health in New Zealand, leading to the creation of a business plan. The methodology involves Systems Thinking using Group Model Building (GMB) - A three-step process starting with structured brainstorming using the partial KJ (Jiro Kawakita) technique to identify priority areas and then clustering them into 'affinity' groups. Next, the priority clusters are used by the participants to construct causal loop diagrams representing 'systems of priorities'(in contrast with list of priorities). Finally, through a group process, leverage points or key priorities are identified as the basis for a business plan. While the above process was well agreed upon by the participants at the outset, strong group resistance was encountered when managers attempted to reduce the number of priority areas. Systems thinking approach was used to create consensus and the commitment to the outcome. The GMB approach offers significant promise in using qualitative system dynamics with non-systems experts. The methodology can be applied to change management initiative and complex decisions such as restructuring, reengineering, and supply chain design. The expected outcomes are greater commitment and shared vision
Mobile Data Technologies and SME Adoption and Diffusion: an empirical study of barriers and facillitators
Get PDFThe technological environment in which Australian SMEs operate can be best described as dynamic and vital. The rate of technological change provides the SME owner/manger a complex and challenging operational context. Wireless applications are being developed that provide mobile devices with Internet content and E-business services. In Australia, the adoption of ecommerce by large organisations has been relatively high, however, the same cannot be said for SMEs, where adoption has been slower than other developed countries. In contrast, however, mobile telephone adoption and diffusion is relatively high by SMEs. Will SMEs who have been reluctant to adopt commerce technologies in the past be more ready to go on-line with the merging of the Internet and mobile data technologies?
This exploratory study identifies attitudes, perceptions and issues for mobile data technologies by regional SME owner/managers across a range of industry sectors. The major issues include the sector the firm belongs to, the current adoption status of the firm, the level of mistrust of the IT industry, the cost of the technologies, and the applications and attributes of the technologies
Reducing Software Failures: addressing the ethical risks of the software development lifecycle
Get PDFA narrow approach to risk analysis and understanding the scope of a software project has contributed to significant software failures. A process is presented which expands the concept of software risk to include social, professional, and ethical risks that lead to software failure. Using an expanded risk analysis will enlarge the project scope considered by software developers. This process also is incorporated into a software development life cycle. A tool to develop Software Development Impact Statements is also discussed. This paper was published by AJIS in 2002. The paper was also published earlier by IEEE as a conference paper, but we believe the AJIS version to be the first submission. The IEEE paper contains the statement 'This work was partially funded by NSF Grant 9874684 and is an extension of work that appeared in the Australian Journal of Information Systems'.Gotterbarn, Don. (2001) "Enhancing risk analysis using software development impact statements." NASA Goddard Software Engineering Workshop, pp. 43-51. IEEE, 27-29 Nov 2001 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=99265
Impediments to Inter-Firm Transfer of Best Practice in an Enterprise Systems Context
Get PDFA survey of major issues with Enterprise Systems was administered within the State Government of Queensland, Australia and a subset of these issues mapped against Szulanski’s model of inter-firm best practice transfer stickiness (Szulanski, G. 1996. Exploring internal stickiness: Impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17(Special Issue), 27-43). The paper discusses impediments to knowledge transfer within this context, presents findings from the a posteriori application of Szulanski’s model to the survey responses, and suggests future research directions
A Balanced Approach to Capturing User Requirements in Business- to- Consumer Web Information Systems
Get PDFThe development of business-to-consumer web information systems pose special challenges in the requirements analysis phase. It is difficult to capture user requirements given that users are relatively autonomous and anonymous and there are no major incentives for users to become involved in the development of a web information system. The researchers reviewed traditional requirement elicitation techniques, marketing research techniques and web usage analysis techniques. Current practice was assessed and the findings suggest that a balanced approach to user requirements capture will result in more complete and user centred requirements. This approach should lead to more effective business-to consumer web information systems
A Method for Reverse Engineering of Use Case Realisations in UML
Get PDFWe propose a novel method for recovering certain elements of the UML model of a software system. These include relationships between use cases as well as class roles in collaborations that realize each use case, identifying common functionality and thus establishing a hierarchical view of the model. The method is based on dynamic analysis of the system for the selected test cases that cover relevant use cases. The theory of formal concept analysis is applied to obtain classification of model elements, obtained by a static analysis of code, in terms of use case realizations
A Technology Acceptance Model for Inter-Organisational Electronic Medical Records Systems
Get PDFThis article reports the findings of the first stage of an ongoing, longitudinal study into the implementation of an interorganisational electronic medical records (EMR) system. The study adapted and expanded Davis' (1993) technology acceptance model (TAM) to investigate the attitudes of primary care practitioners towards a proposed system for maternity patients. All doctors and midwives holding maternity care contracts with a large urban hospital in New Zealand were sent a questionnaire soliciting their views on a planned EMR system linking the hospital and the primary care sectors. The results showed that whilst Davis' two key factors of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness were important to medical professionals, another key factor, perceived system acceptability, which concerns control and management of information is vitally important to the acceptance of the system. The study also showed that the two groups of professionals had differing requirements due to different levels of experience and practice computerisation. Finally, the research highlights a number of wider organisational issues particularly relevant to the use of inter organisational systems in general and healthcare systems in particular