Australian Computer Society: ACS Digital Library
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Synthesizing Structuration and Institutional Theory: three cases
Get PDFResearch suggests that it is difficult to predict the influence of information technology (IT) on organizations. Using the structuration approach, theorists like Orlikowski suggest technology's effect is context dependent. Within organizations, structuration theory suggests IT's use and understanding reflects the interaction of individuals, social structures, and features of the technology. However, in the public sector, external institutions play an important role in shaping the development of internal structures. This paper develops a conceptual framework that links institutions and organizations social structures to the use and understanding of information technology in the public sector. To develop a more accurate image of the structuring process, it suggests theory should explicitly model the influence of regulative, normative, and cognitive institutions on how technology is used and perceived in government organizations
Organisational Semiosis: integration and serparation between system features and workpractices
Get PDFTraditional information systems theory and practice assumes a tight coupling or integration between workpractices in organisations and the information systems which are notionally built to support them. The relationship between the integration and the separation of workpractices and system features has been theorised as dialectical. It has also been argued that the goal of system design would be to achieve a dynamic equilibrium within this dialectic. However, this paper argues that the above mentioned dialectic forged between integrationist and separations! views can be usefully critiqued by applying systemic semiotics. Systemic semiotics refers to a combination of systemic functional linguistics (a semiotic model of language) and its extensions into a general semiotic framework called social semiotics. The latter draws heavily on the notion of dialogism which this paper proposes is useful in rethinking the relationship between workpractices and information systems. In addition, concepts of text and context are drawn from systemic functional linguistics in analysing the workpractices associated with the use of actual information systems features. Two examples are used to explicate this dialogic relationship, including: (i) the dynamic renegotiation of a workpractice which is assumed to be closely integrated to a system feature (negotiated separation), and (ii) the extension of the system into other locations by means of communicatively organising materials and users in the workplace (indirect integration)
Problems and Issues in Using Computer- Based Support Tools to Enhance 'Soft' Systems Methodologies
Get PDFThis paper explores the issue of whether computer-based support tools can enhance the use of 'soft' systems methodologies as applied to real-world problem situations. Although work has been carried out by a number of researchers in applying computer-based technology to concepts and methodologies relating to 'soft' systems thinking such as Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), such attempts appear to be still in their infancy and have not been applied widely to real-world problem situations.
This paper will highlight some of the problems that may be encountered in attempting to develop computer-based support tools for 'soft' systems methodologies. Particular attention will be paid to an attempt by the author to develop a computer-based support tool for a particular 'soft' systems method of inquiry known as the Appreciative Inquiry Method that is based upon Vickers' notion of 'appreciation' (Vickers, 196S) and Checkland's SSM (Checkland, 1981). The final part of the paper will explore some of the lessons learnt from developing and applying the computer-based support tool to a real world problem situation, as well as considering the feasibility of developing computer-based support tools for 'soft' systems methodologies. This paper will put forward the point that a mixture of manual and computer-based tools should be employed to allow a methodology to be used in an unconstrained manner, but the benefits provided by computer-based technology should be utilised in supporting and enhancing the more mundane and structured tasks
Inter-Firm Information Sharing in Enterprise Resource Planning Systems: a call for timely but limited access to customer information
Get PDFCurrent trends in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) suggest that supply chain management and tight control over scheduling jobs within the supply chain are key tactical planning issues. Modern ERP software packages, in conjunction with the World Wide Web, allow for automated exchange of information within a company and also between two or more companies (i.e., conveyance of customer information to suppliers) of parts and components) for the purposes of effective planning and control. While ease of information exchange between a customer and supplier is increasingly critical to the success of modern-day planning and control efforts, the issue of information security is also a very real concern. Suppliers can benefit from gaining access to a customer's dispatch list and material requirements plan (MRP) in order to determine real-time priority of jobs in queue at various work centers within their own organization. Other customer information, however, should remain secure and unavailable to supplier firms for competitive reasons such as threat of forward integration. This paper presents a previously tested priority-sequencing rule that explicitly considers downstream shop conditions in determining which job to run next The rule proves to perform well on mean flow time and lateness as well as on variability of these measures. The rule is extended here to incorporate the case where a downstream work center is outside official corporate boundaries. With the call for free exchange of information comes the threat of other, perhaps proprietary, information being accessed by vendors or others outside the official corporate boundaries. The paper will propose information that should be freely exchanged between customers and suppliers and information that should remain secure. Finally, practical measures to manage access to web-enabled ERP information will be proposed
Assessing Software Quality Through Visualised Cohesion Metrics
Get PDFCohesion is one of the most important factors for software quality as well as maintainability, reliability and reusability. Module cohesion is defined as a quality attribute that seeks for measuring the singleness of the purpose of a module. The module of poor quality can be a serious obstacle to the system quality. In order to design a good software quality, software managers and engineers need to introduce cohesion metrics to measure and produce desirable software. A highly cohesion software is thought to be a desirable constructing. In this paper, we propose a function-oriented cohesion metrics based on the analysis of live variables, live span and the visualization of processing element dependency graph. We give six typical cohesion examples to be measured as our experiments and justification. Therefore, a well-defined, well-normalized, well-visualized and well-experimented cohesion metrics is proposed to indicate and thus enhance software cohesion strength. Furthermore, this cohesion metrics can be easily incorporated with software CASE tool to help software engineers to improve software quality
Cops, Computers and the Right to Privacy in the Information Age: unauthorised access and inapropriate disclosure of information complaints in New South Wales
Get PDFThe term the 'information age' is particularly applicable to Australia. In a recent email, the Australian Institute of Criminology's Chief Librarian, John Myrtle, passed on statistics which showed that internet use and access in Australia has increased about 50% during the last year (Pers. Comm. 14 July 1999). Of greater interest is the fact that almost 20% of Australian households, 1.3 million, have internet access and over one third of the adult population has accessed the internet at some time during the year ending February 1999. To further back these figures, the Sydney Morning Herald of 12 February, 2000, carried statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics which showed that 22.6% of Australian families had home internet access (Anon., 2000a, p. 105). These figures firmly place Australians among the world's most computer literate societies. Of course computers weren't always that popular. The authors of this paper entered law enforcement at a time when computers were owned by Universities and major corporations - not individuals - and a decent calculator cost about a week's wages. However, things changed quickly and by the 1980s computers were an established part of policing. Today, all major police services are committed to, and reliant on, some form of computerised information system. The two systems which the authors have had contact with are the Crime Reporting and Information System for Police (CRISP) (Queensland Police Service) and the Computerised Operational Policing System (COPS) (New South Wales Police Service). While many aspects of these two systems are different, they, and all the other police information systems in existence, share one major similarity: they store and provide access to personal and confidential information on every individual with whom police come into contact during their duties. Modern police investigation techniques rely on officers being able to access this information routinely to carry out their duties and fight crime. Likewise, the individuals whose personal information is held on law enforcement computer systems are entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy. This presents the single greatest dilemma to law enforcement officers using computers: when does investigation and intelligence gathering become common curiosity and therefore unlawful
Making the Invisible Visible: modelling social learning in a knowledge management context
Get PDFThe articulation of Knowledge Management as an organisational strategy has occurred in the context of a radical shift towards an information based economy. The most significant aspect for organisations operating in the information economy is their ability to utilise the volumes of information that are now readily available without the constraint of media, geography or time. A critical factor for organisations is the speed at which they are able to productively process such information to enable the organisation to react rapidly to changes in their operating environments.
In this context organisation needs to produce and re-produce knowledge. The shift from information to knowledge is an acknowledgment of the significant role of the human actor in the process of transforming information into effective organisational outcomes. Social learning represents important processes that contribute to actors’ ability to understand information, create knowledge from that information and share what they know. Social learning is therefore intrinsic to knowledge management.
In this paper we present a knowledge management architecture that supports a learning organisation. This architecture accommodates social learning and processes by which knowledge is internalised and externalised by individuals, work groups and the organisation as a whole. The architecture incorporates a model social learning based on the results of ethnographic studies and a model of learning derived from knowledge management case studies. The architecture is not domain specific but can be applied to activity that can be characterised as knowledge work in an organisational context. As such the architecture can play a variety of roles; as a conceptual framework, as a diagnostic tool to identify breakdown and as a design tool for organisational change
Exploring Knowledge Management Perceptions Among Information Systems Managers - empirical sense-making through focus group research
Get PDFDespite the increasing knowledge management (KM) awareness and interest among academia and industry, a very diverse range of views and perceptions still exists. There is a need to appreciate the issues and concerns surrounding KM research and implementation among communities of researchers and practitioners. Our research aims to provide a deeper empirical insight of practitioners in terms of the general level of awareness, the state of practice, and industrial perceptions on KM is-sues in the context of a growing knowledge-based economy such as Singapore. We chose to explore this topic from an information systems (IS) management perspective, by exploring the levels of KM understanding, the issues of concerns and requirements by chief information officers (CIOs) and senior IS managers, and how they make sense of KM. Sense-making approach through focus group research is the primary methodology used. Using social cognitive research techniques such as frames of reference, the participants’ perceptions are summarised and presented broadly along the following themes: conceptual awareness of knowledge/KM; facilitators and inhibitors of KM; usefulness and value of KM; KM mechanisms and implementation approaches; factors influencing knowledge sharing, acquisition and capture; effectiveness of KM technologies; and the prerequisites of a KM practitioner. Our findings are discussed in the light of their implications to IS management practice in organisations. The findings also raises new research questions in IS and KM
Knowledge Management and Organisational Effectiveness: balancing the mild, the wild and the crazy
Get PDFIn the Knowledge Age, effective Knowledge Management (KM) is seen as fundamental to the survival of many organisations. Information Systems (IS) increasingly underpin KM in such organisations. The value of the contribution of IS to the goals of these organisations depends on balancing various conflicting requirements. For example, stable, robust and reliable business processes are often fundamental to their efficient operation. However, less structured environments are conducive to the innovation and knowledge creation that are considered to be fundamental to their on-going effective operation. The paper presents a model developed to relate these conflicting requirements to organisational effectiveness and describes how it was used to examine the outcomes of a Knowledge Management study conducted in the Australian Defence Organisation
Harnessing Intranet Technology for Organisational Knowledge Creation
Get PDFMany organisations have embraced intranets with the intent of harnessing the technology to support knowledge management initiatives. Despite the promise that intranet technology holds in this regard, many of the early research studies indicate rather disappointing results. In this paper we propose a model that organisations can use to conceptualise and reflect on their intranet applications with a view towards more fruitful results, specifically in terms of knowledge creation. We do so by drawing upon Nonaka’s well-known framework of knowledge creation and combining that with a taxonomy of five intranet use modes. For each of Nonaka’s four knowledge creating activities we associate and describe the corresponding primary intranet use mode that we argue can foster the knowledge creation process. We illustrate the arguments with findings from our own empirical intranet field studies and other documented intranet-related knowledge management research. We conclude with some implications of the model and we suggest avenues for further research