1,721,007 research outputs found
An ontology-driven software development framework
Full text linkProceedings of the 14th International Business Information Management Association Conference (14th IBIMA), 23 - 24 June 2010, Istanbul, Turkey. (Business Transformation through Innovation and Knowledge Management: An Academic Perspective, edied by Khalid S. Soliman).The software development process has been curtailed by the lack of a methodology that can capture and maintain the softer, humanist characteristics of organizational systems into the software product.
This is attributed to the absence of a software model that can capture and maintain these characteristics at analysis through to design and implementation phases of the development life cycle. Using grounded theory method, the authors investigated issues that limit the usability of software systems in organizations. These were tracked back to the developmental stages of software products
and were attributed to the human aspects of organizational systems that are not captured. On the other end, ontologies are explored and positioned as artefacts that can be used to capture the softer, human
aspects of organizational systems. This paper therefore presents a framework that positions ontologies at the centre of the software
development process. This ontology artefact takes the role of the software model that bridges the communication gap between the software development phases as well as among stakeholders in the
development process. At the same time, it allows soft issues such as culture, social context, semantics and pragmatics to be maintained in the software products that run organizational information systems
Considerations in Grounded Theory Research Method: A reflection on the lessons learned
No full textProceedings of the 14th International Business Information Management Association Conference (14th IBIMA), 23 - 24 June 2010, Istanbul, Turkey. (Business Transformation through Innovation and Knowledge Management: An Academic Perspective, edited by Khalid S. Soliman).This paper is a discussion on the practical issues faced by Information Systems (IS) professionals when they employ Grounded Theory Method (GTM) in Information Systems research. Various strands of GTM are in use, all of which are derivatives of the grand GTM proposed by Barney G. Glaser and Anselm G.
Strauss in 1967. Starting with the dicta proposed by these two authors in 1967 on the use of GTM, the paper explores several variants of the method that have surfaced and are currently in use.
The proponents of GTM had dicta on the use of problem statement and hypothesis, hence research
questions, use of literature in the substantive area of research and data-gathering methods. This paper will
explore ways on how these dicta are used when researchers undertake a study both in an area of their
expertise and are faced with two substantive areas of study that should be consulted in the same research.
This discussion is intended to serve as a guide for novice researchers who intend to use GTM for their
Masters or Doctoral research studies as well as for people using the method for the first time. It
challenges researchers to reflect always on espoused research methods versus research methods in use.
Lastly, some quality aspects of GTM research that will ensure acceptance of the inductively generated
theory to a scholarly discipline are proposed
A discriminant analysis appraoch to classifying adopters and non-adopters of internet-banking services
Full text linkSeveral technology acceptance theories have been proposed and used to study the adoption of IB
services world over. However, TAM has gained wide popularity compared to other behavioral theories.
This study uses some constructs from TAM and IDT to investigate the factors that distinguish between
IBA in Gaborone. Multivariate techniques such as factor and discriminant analyses were used in this
study. The results indicate that, trust, awareness and compatibility proved to have more
discriminatory power in IB. The groups tend not to differ much in relation to PEOU and PU. However,
IB awareness can be improved in order to increase IB usage in Botswana. The authorities are also
urged to entice customers into using internet in order to help improve their PEOU and PU. Training on
the use of this service can be provided to the 62.7% or more who have shown interest in using IB in the
future. Authors would like to suggest an exploratory study using structural equation modeling as a
technique. This can reveal more insights into the data. However, if this is to be done, the sample size
needs to be increased. Sample size is one of the weaknesses of this study hence we cannot generalize
the findings to the whole of Botswana
Investigating causes of delays and cost escalation in project execution during turnarounds
Full text linkEngen Refinery plant is part of the Engen Petroleum Limited, with operations in Southern Africa. The plant is situated in KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa and it operates 24 hours a day, every day, including weekends. Although Engen operates 24 hours 7 days a week, the plant has to be shut down occasionally for maintenance. These shutdown periods are also used as an opportunity to implement most projects, especially those that could not be implemented during the normal run of the plant. In order to ensure that the plant operations are not interrupted, it is preferable to work on the equipment while the plant is not operational. The shutdown periods are very limited in time, so it is of utmost importance to complete tasks within the given turnaround period in order to get the plant back on line in time to deliver products as scheduled to customers. The main objective of this study is to explore the causes and consequences of delays in project execution and their impact on the success of the project. The study identified poor communication, repetition of tasks, resource allocation, scope change, procurement process management, inadequate planning and poor budget estimates as major contributors to delays and cost escalation during project execution. It is recommended that Engen Refinery put some means together to improve the above-mentioned issues
Risk and opportunities connected to the adoption of internet banking in an emerging market
Full text linkThis research investigate the adoption of Internet banking among Gaborone`s working class and university students. Internet banking comes with convenience and lower costs, which encourage customers to adopt it. Hindering factors to Internet banking adoption include lack of trust and awareness. The study is based on a quantitative research approach. The results suggest that Internet banking adoption is almost the same between the working class and university students. The main factors that support Internet banking adoption are perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and compatibility. The study findings are consistent with previous studies done in other countries, which show same factors that promote and hinder internet banking adoption. The study therefore contributes to our understanding about factors that promote and hinder internet banking by customers. Furthermore studies may focus on the rate of internet adoption among age groups, income and social status
A conceptual framework for detecting financial crime in mobile money transactions
No full textMobile money has made it possible for the unbanked to access financial service to areas previous not accessibly to traditional banking systems. Africa in particular, has indeed seen a growth in use of such services owing to the high penetration of mobile phones. While traditional banking services have been well regulated and secured, mobile money services are still new and vulnerable. Also, attacks and crimes targeting the internet, new technologies and new methods of payments have become sophisticated. This scenario requires novel proactive, real time techniques and solutions to detect financial crimes in mobile money transactions (MMT). The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 2012 requires mobile money to be subject for monitoring and for compliance. Payment systems have evolved from hard cash, to credit cards, debit cards and now to the M-money, there are several approaches that have been used to detect financial crime in platforms such as credit cards and in the traditional banking system. However, most of these approaches are not suitable for m-money methods. A conceptual framework for detection of mobile money financial crime is proposed. The framework incorporates data mining techniques, big data analytics, Know Your Customers, historical databases and a knowledge base among other things
An empirical study on the success factors to consider in developing e-Learning systems: a learner-oriented system
No full textOver many decades now, software design and system development is confronted with development crisis due to a number of causes. And the development has led to a chain of transformation mainly in the area of methodologies and approaches used during the development procedures. The crisis is still continueseven on e-Learning systems notwithstanding the huge effort applied by researchers to preclude the issue. Nonetheless, one big issue that has not been fully addressed nor much attention given in the on-going development crisis is the effective success factors to consider in the development of the e-Learning system that appeal to learners. Although some researches claim to have reduced the effect of software crisis with the evolution of new approaches, frameworks, paradigms and methodologies. This research reports the qualitative empirical data on the success factors to consider in the development of an effective e-Learning systems that fulfillearner's expectations in the developing country. Originally, this study deployed mixed research method on the thesis but this study is an abstract data of the qualitative method which focuses on e-Learning system development among the following educational institutions: University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), University of Cape Town (UCT) and North-West University (NWU). These institutions was selected due they student cultural diversity and international presence and also on their knowledge in developing, customising and deploying e-Learning system as a learning platform. In summary, this study identified different success factors that developers must consider while developing e-Learning systems
A Culture-Oriented e-Learning System (e-LS) for Higher Education Institutions in South Africa
No full textThe utilisation of e-learning system has added value to the South African (SA) educational system. South African (SA) educational system consists of learners (students) coming from different backgrounds, cultural settings and societies. This diversity possesses a great number of different characteristics, expectations and learning styles from the e-learning system. Globally, managing diversity among students is missing out from different literature studies and this is the result of lack of culture-oriented e-learning system which has affected easy development and effective usage of the e-learning system. In order to execute a culture-oriented e-learning system, this research sought to understand the challenges faced by the current e-learning system and how to implement an effective culture-oriented e-learning system. The research findings showed lack of cultural elements in e-learning system and it also showed that there is no solid collaboration among the developers and the users (learners) during the developmental phase. To arrive at this finding, the researchers employed quantitative research method (questionnaire) and performed data correlation on the collected data among students from the North-West University (Mafikeng Campus); 150 questionnaires were circulated and 141 were returned. The participants were randomly selected because they use e-learning system in their daily learning process. Generally, the solution to this underlying challenges lies with culture-oriented e-learning system
An investigation of a specific system development methodology for business process reengineering
No full textSystem developers in South African organisations need to recognise,
recommend and appreciate the use of System Development Methodologies
(SDMs) (Huisman 2004). In this age of rapidly changing technological
trends which South African organisations have not been spared of, system
developers are constantly trying to find new ways of doing business that
align with the technological advancements. In light of this, transforming the
way business is done or changing business processes is usually the ultimate
solution, thereby invoking Business Process Reengineering (BPR). There is
therefore a strong call to employ specific SDMs for the development of
Information Systems proposed for BPR (Mavetera 2012). This paper looks
at specific SDMs for BPR. As of today, existent SDMs in the computing
world are believed to have been designed for the development of completely
new Information Systems not systems that are being improved or
reengineered. The drive behind investigating specific SDMs for BPR is
basically informed by past research from BPR proponents who are
concerned that BPR has serious effects on the organisational business
processes (Hammer and Champy 2005, Muthu, Whitman and Cheraghi 1999
and Giaglis 2009). They advocate that BPR requires a proper system
development approach to be followed if it is to succeed. This theoretical
investigation further looks at the extent to which SDMs accommodate the
aspect of BPR in terms of BPR characteristics and success factors within
their philosophy
An empirical investigation into the social impact of information systems at a tertiary institution in a developing country
No full textThis study explores the problems that exist when society interacts with
Information Systems (IS). IS brings expected and unexpected implications
that may include social, environmental and IS failures. The problem is that
these systems were developed without taking into consideration the impact
of IS on its users. The organisation that is studied is North West University,
Mafikeng Campus. A quantitative research approach was used for this study.
Results indicate that a small number of the respondents were involved in the
planning and development of the NWU IS and because of this, the social
impact of users was not taken into account. The study suggests some
guidelines that can be followed by developers of the university’s IS when
developing and implementing IS in future
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