Australian Computer Society: ACS Digital Library
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User Satisfaction and System Success: considering the development team
Get PDFTwo key indicators of system success are that the software performs as intended and the users are satisfied with the system. Frequently, however, the major and overwhelming focus of the development team is on building and refining the technical side of the system. The result is that many systems are delivered where the users are not satisfied. This paper explores the skills, other than technical skills, that are needed on development teams to produce systems that are successful from a user's perspective
The Use of Influence Diagrams in the Design of Spreadsheet Models: an experimental study
Get PDFThe spreadsheet is one of the most commonly used personal computer applications. Many studies have shown that a very high percentage of spreadsheet models contain serious errors. The use of influence diagrams, which are a visual representation of the relationships among the variables in a problem, to plan the development of a spreadsheet model may reduce the likelihood of the spreadsheet model containing an error. This paper describes an experimental study that tests whether the use of influence diagrams improves spreadsheet modelling practice. The results of the study suggests that influence diagrams do help users to better understand problems, and as a result reduce the likelihood of omitting important variables from spreadsheet models
Information Warfare and Ethics
Get PDFThis paper examines the ethics of the practice of information warfare at both the national and corporate levels. Initially examining the present and past actions of individual hackers, it moves to the more organised, future military and economic warfare scenarios. It examines the lack of legal or policy initiatives in this area
Aspects of Text Mining From Computational Semiotics to Systemic Functional Hypertexts
Get PDFThe significance of natural language texts as the prime information structure for the management and dissemination of knowledge in organisations is still increasing. Making relevant documents available depending on varying tasks in different contexts is of primary importance for any efficient task completion. Implementing this demand requires the content based processing of texts, which enables to reconstruct or, if necessary, to explore the relationship of task, context and document. Text mining is a technology that is suitable for solving problems of this kind. In the following, semiotic aspects of text mining are investigated. Based on the primary object of text mining - natural language lexis - the specific complexity of this class of signs is outlined and requirements for the implementation of text mining procedures are derived. This is done with reference to text linkage introduced as a special task in text mining. Text linkage refers to the exploration of implicit, content based relations of texts (and their annotation as typed links in corpora possibly organised as hypertexts). In this context, the term systemic functional hypertext is introduced, which distinguishes genre and register layers for the management of links in a poly-level hypertext system
An Empirical Analysis of the Effect of Criticality, Complexity and Organisational Influence on Software Reliability
Get PDFThis paper is motivated by a desire to improve software reliability, in particular, the reliability of software that impacts the operational and financial viability of organisations. We examine the effects of Criticality, Complexity, and Organisational Influence on information systems reliability. Questionnaires were used to gather quantitative data for statistical analysis. Post-hoc in-depth interviews were used to help explain results of the statistical analysis. Surprisingly, no associations were observed between Reliability and Criticality or between Reliability and Complexity. A positive relationship was found, however, between system Reliability and Organisational Influence. The interviews indicated that organisations mitigated the potential negative effects of Complexity through additional planning, and achieved more reliable software by assigning more competent project managers They managed Criticality by assigning more competent project managers to more critical systems. The significant relationship between system Reliability and Organisational Influence indicates that IS managers respond to internal political pressures. This result implies that senior management should take steps to ensure that excessive Organisational Influence does not cause IS managers to misallocate resources. For example, for each major project, the IS steering committee can determine the desired level of reliability, appoint project mangers with the appropriate skill set, and periodically communicate with these project managers about the activities used to achieve each system's desired level of reliability
Cursor Control Device Characteristics
Get PDFAn analysis of cursor positioning may provide guidelines for improvements in cursor control. Four experiments addressed efficiency of cursor control devices (Mouse, Digitising Pen, Accupoint, Trackball). Participants moved a cursor leftwards, upwards or rightwards, positioning it in large or small targets situated in near or far space on the computer screen. Cursor coordinates were sampled every 5 ms. The number of submovements and the proportion of time spent in deceleration were analysed. Participants could not plan movements controlled by an Accupoint. Cursor trajectories were more variable in near space for detachable manipulanda due to potential cartesian coordinate system incompatibilitie
Employee Perception of the Impact of Information Technology Investment in Organisations: a survey of the hotel industry
Get PDFTo improve their operational efficiency and to maintain their competitiveness in the market place many organisations continue to invest substantially in their Information Technology (IT) capability. But how do the employees themselves view the impact and the value of IT investment? This paper considers this question in the context of the hospitality industry. More specifically, it investigates the different perception of hotel employees on the impact of organisational IT investment on (a) IT usage by employees, (b) employee satisfaction with the IT systems, (c) changes in the level of employee performance, and (d) organisational performance of the hotel.
945 hotel employees in Bali, Indonesia were surveyed to assess their perception of the organisational impact of IT. Factor analysis, analysis of variance and regression analysis were performed on the data to examine the' range of employee viewpoints. Results showed that there were significant differences among the employees' perception with respect to age, educational level, position in the hotel, and individual income. These findings suggest that even senior management may regard the investment in IT is worthwhile, there may be a divergence of opinion among the employees as to what are the real benefits of IT. In order to fully leverage the potential of their IT investment, managers should pay particular attention to shaping the views of the employees who ultimately determine whether the IT capabilities in an organisation are put to use
Testing Hammer and Stanton's Reengineering Success Diagnostic
Get PDFBusiness Process Reengineering (BPR) is no longer referenced in academic literature with the regularity that it was in the heady days of the mid-nineties but it is still in use in Australian organisations. We are also changing processes radically as new software is implemented or new electronic markets are embraced and the lessons of reengineering can be applied to these process changes.
This study makes three main contributions by: (1) investigating the organisational context prior to the embarkation on projects of major change in Australia, (2) testing the validity of a diagnostic proposed by Hammer and Stanton (1995) to be used when assessing the ability of organisations to succeed at reengineering, and (3) examining the impact of the organisational environment prior to change on the outcome of reengineering projects
Top-Down Enterprise Application Integration with Reference Models
Get PDFFor Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems such as SAP R/3 or IBM SanFrancisco, the tailoring of reference models for customizing the ERP systems to specific organizational contexts is an established approach. In this paper, we present a methodology that uses such reference models as a starting point for a top-down integration of enterprise applications. The re-engineered models of legacy systems are individually linked via cross-mapping specifications to the forward-engineered reference model's specification. The actual linking of reference and legacy models is done with a methodology for connecting (new) business objects with (old) legacy systems