Through a case study about the impact of IT adoption in a residential aged care organisation, this thesis examines the increasing pressure for service integration as mainstreamed through reform policies. Specifically, the research investigates the role of IT in facilitating the 1997 aged care reform agenda of 'ageing in place' focusing on the levels of transformation from the policy context to the organisational/management context, and to the context of service provision by care staff. A single embedded case study (Yin, 1993) is used in order to meet the general objective to capture the dynamics of the impact of ageing in place in the three social contexts. The research is informed by social constructionism, a theoretical framework that emphasises the significance and effects of language in shaping social realities (Ainsworth, 2001; Hosking, 1999). The framework, therefore, justifies the qualitative analysis of both written (i.e., policy documents) and spoken (i.e., interviews with staff) texts to address meaning in relation to context. Changing technologies can result in altered societal structures (Betz, 2003) at all levels, from the very complex to the very basic. As such, it is important to understand a few basic premises of technology. First, technology is a human invention to improve the well-being of society (Ayres, 1996). Consequently, technological inventions that improve the quality of life are seen by people as a necessity for modern living. In the case of ageing, modernisation and technological advances effectively resulted in people becoming healthier and living longer (Department of Health and Aged Care [DHAC], 2000). Second, technology is a human means to control nature (Betz, 2003). As such, technological advances can be seen as a modernising process of predicting and regulating the effects of the trends existing in the environment, such as ageing. Ageing in the twenty first century presents a challenge to government's development policies because ageing is depicted as a steady force with a long-term economic impact (Johnson, 1999). Third, a technology becomes powerful when it is sponsored by the market (Betz, 2003; Hughes, 1983). Unless a technology is backed by business, it lacks the influence on a large scale. Fourth, technology is used to enable change. By using IT, governments, business and the community are co-operating through a paradigm similar to the business sector. As a result, the service environment is shifting towards more business-like approaches. To sustain the changes brought by a different paradigm and modes of operation, the rhetoric of technology is employed. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to investigate the use of IT in processes of organisational adaptations to reform, which requires the examination of: a) specific meaning of IT as used in long-term care policies for older people since the last structural reform, b) the rationale behind the introduction of a new IT system into a residential care organisation, and c) the meaning of IT as articulated by care staff who have experienced a change in technology. The first paper represents a rhetorical analysis at the macro or policy level. There is a significant influence of a global political actor in developing proactive strategies on ageing, which results in a new, multi-organisational approach in delivering government-subsidised services, such as residential care. Three key institutional texts were selected to represent international to local policy development since the time ageing became a global concern. Since then, ageing is also viewed as a human rights issue. Using Burke's pentad, an analytic framework to analyse rhetoric in texts (Stillar, 1998), these institutional texts are seen to employ the rhetoric of 'technology for sustainability' to justify changes to policy approaches that seek long-term viability. Technology, in the name of sustainable development ensures support for economic growth, which balances the long-term effects of population ageing. The existence of a global force, such as population ageing, allows the intervening powers of the UN in mainstreaming ageing into development policies. Accordingly, it initiates corresponding actions at national (Australian Commonwealth Government) and state (Queensland Government) levels. IT is a medium of communication, knowledge transfer, and standard practice at these levels of actions. The second paper represents a qualitative analysis at the meso or organisational level. This paper explores the cogent rationale in the introduction of a computer-based, care documentation system in a large residential aged care organisation. Twenty two staff, from every level of the organisation, were interviewed to get an insight into the role of IT in substantive changes to organisational structure and modes of service provision. Responses from staff indicate external and internal influence that pressured the organisation to change. In the bid to sustain the future of aged care, the industry is changing through the introduction of new structure of service delivery. The Aged Care Structural Reform instigated a shift towards sustainable service provision that is consumer-driven, with a fixed cost compliance mechanism and performance criteria that are tied to funding. Facing the requirement for evidence to corroborate funding, a residential care organisation changed its structure of service delivery by introducing a new strategic direction. IT is part of this new strategic direction, planning, and operations of a changed service environment. The third paper represents a qualitative analysis at the micro or individual level to examine the impact of IT at frontline service delivery. This study is also based on interviews with twenty-two staff, across the organisational structure; however, this time the focus is more on staff who are involved in providing direct care to older residents at the organisation. The reason behind this is that IT has always been a management tool which handles management priorities such as financial planning and performance monitoring. The themes arising from the interviews indicate discord at the level of service delivery from the introduction of a new technical system. It also points to the idea that staff generally refer to ethical ideas and future promise of the new system. In summary, these three papers attached to this thesis support the notion that the meaning of technology is socially constructed. First, technology in the aged care sector has particular reference to improving or enhancing the well-being of older people, and in this case, the provision of high quality services that fulfil the needs of older people. Second, IT has an important role in meeting the evidence-based requirement, such as in the use of information in manipulating the use of resources required for the ageing population. Third, the meaning of IT is conceived from the context requiring its use such as the need to use resource efficiently to ensure long-term sustainability, which were emphasised in the last reform. Fourth, IT is used to enable structural changes in organisations to implement generic practices originated from the business sector, requiring the use of strong rhetoric such as balance and future. The limit of this case study is that these dimensions of technology can only be applied to the specific context of aged care and is not generalisable to other political contexts. However, the strength of the study rests on the macro-, meso- and micro-analysis of the meaning of technology. Therefore, future studies should investigate and compare the dimensions of technology in other contexts.

p. 1 - 159 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-01-16T19:55:30Z No. of bitstreams: 1 gggggg.pdf: 1451452 bytes, checksum: 8dc3b0023ed9f1932169d07d03967420 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-01-16T19:55:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 gggggg.pdf: 1451452 bytes, checksum: 8dc3b0023ed9f1932169d07d03967420 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / A pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar os efeitos da terceirização para a Gestão do Conhecimento em uma estrutura administrativa de desenvolvimento de sistemas em tecnologia da informação, no setor público. Esta perspectiva abrange o entendimento sobre os mecanismos da gestão do conhecimento e o papel dos profissionais de tecnologia da informação na Organização, na Área e no ciclo de desenvolvimento de sistemas; busca analisar os ativos intangíveis representados pelo capital estrutural, de relacionamento e intelectual e o modelos de terceirização utilizados na Secretaria da Fazenda, Órgão integrante da Administração Pública Direta do Estado da Bahia, para a contratação de desenvolvimento e manutenção de sistemas em tecnologia da informação. O trabalho está fundamentado por um quadro teórico, baseado nos conceitos sobre gestão do conhecimento e seus ativos intangíveis, sobre a terceirização, os modelos e restrições legais no âmbito público e o contexto organizacional da tecnologia da informação, tendo como foco o desenvolvimento de sistemas. Foi realizada uma pesquisa de campo aplicada, na qual se abordou o problema como um estudo de caso exploratório e de cunho quali-quantitativo, privilegiando um entendimento analítico e suportado por observação, pesquisa documental e entrevistas efetuadas com o superintendente, diretor, gerentes, líderes de sistemas e gestores de sistemas da Secretaria da Fazenda do Estado da Bahia (SEFAZ-BA). O instrumento de pesquisa utilizado baseia-se em Rossatto (2003), que propõe três constructos: capital estrutural, capital de relacionamento e capital intelectual. Foram aplicados questionários seguindo o enquadre desses constructos e as respostas foram categorizadas e analisadas. Os resultados encontrados indicam a necessidade de uma efetiva gestão dos ativos intangíveis, apresentam os efeitos gerados pela terceirização nas fases do ciclo de desenvolvimento de sistemas e como o modelo de terceirização atual tem contribuído para o escape do conhecimento da Instituição e entrega de serviços em desacordo com o prazo e qualidade. Traz também contribuições de melhoria tendo em perspectiva o ambiente de desenvolvimento de sistemas e o processo “fim a fim” de gestão das demandas em tecnologia da informação. / Salvador

Submitted by LUCI LONGO (luci.longo@gvmail.br) on 2014-01-27T18:56:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE-2014-Luci Longo.pdf: 4266328 bytes, checksum: b7560e7b65474586eb06e6b91f5bec08 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzinei Teles Garcia Garcia (suzinei.garcia@fgv.br) on 2014-01-27T19:18:51Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE-2014-Luci Longo.pdf: 4266328 bytes, checksum: b7560e7b65474586eb06e6b91f5bec08 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-01-27T19:22:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE-2014-Luci Longo.pdf: 4266328 bytes, checksum: b7560e7b65474586eb06e6b91f5bec08 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-01-16 / The results obtained enable us to state that the industries that most invested in Information Technology (IT) in the period of 2001-2011 had higher growth in their operating revenue and more effective operating results, compared with industries that invested less in the same period. According to the proposed model for the companies studied, an increase of 7% was found within two years in operating profit for every 1% in IT investments. Noteworthy is the purpose of the research to identify and analyze the impacts of expenditures and investments in information technology on the financial performance of Brazilian industries, and for that, I used a research model that used accounting-financial metrics and indicators of IT use as well as the combination of statistical analysis techniques. Moreover, the investigation deepens and broadens the discussion on the evaluation of IT investments and how to measure its impact on the organizational performance. The study population was composed of Brazilian companies, which were publicly traded, from the industrial sector, with active stocks at BOVESPA, totaling 119 companies. Through a survey, additional data were obtained related to expenditures and investments in IT, the semi-structured questionnaires were sent directly to the Chief Information Officer (CIO). These efforts in collecting primary data, gave the possibility of obtaining a fairly significant sample, with 63 industries, namely 53% of the population. After collection, the data analysis was developed through three steps: (1) Factor Analysis (FA) for selection of performance factors, which at the end of the process resulted in twelve variables for the research model, (2) Cluster Analysis (CA) that showed three distinct groupings of companies for their features and performance, and (3) Multiple Regression Model which adopted the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), a dynamic econometric model, satisfying the requirements of the Arellano-Bond (1991) model. It is noted that the proposed model could address in a methodologically proper way the spurious correlations and allowing the identification of ‘the lag effect', in other words, IT investments in two previous periods, (IGTIt-2) impacted in current Operating Income (ROPt). Furthermore, it was found that other variables of profitability and liquidity impacted in this result, also adopting lag variables. The main variable of IT research, IGTI is calculated through the sum of expenditures and annual IT investments (OPEX/CAPEX), divided by the annual net Operating Revenue. For future research, there is the possibility of seeking evaluation measures by types (categories) of IT investment, aiming at deepening the analysis of performance impacts by sector (in each investment) and the cluster analysis, making use of the analysis model of this research. / Os resultados obtidos possibilitam afirmar que as indústrias que mais investiram em Tecnologia de Informação (TI), no período de 2001 a 2011, obtiveram maior crescimento da sua receita operacional e resultados operacionais mais eficazes, comparadas com as indústrias que investiram menos no período. De acordo com o modelo proposto, para as empresas estudadas foi possível encontrar, no prazo de dois anos, um crescimento de 7% no resultado operacional para cada 1% a mais de investimentos em TI. Destaca-se o objetivo da pesquisa de identificar e analisar os impactos dos gastos e investimentos em tecnologia de informação no desempenho financeiro das indústrias brasileiras, para alcançá-lo, adotou-se um modelo de pesquisa que utilizou métricas contábeis-financeiras e indicadores de uso TI, bem como a combinação de técnicas estatísticas para as análises. O trabalho aprofunda e amplia as discussões existentes sobre a avaliação dos investimentos em TI e como aferir o impacto desta sobre o desempenho organizacional. O universo do estudo foi composto pelas companhias brasileiras, de capital aberto, do ramo industrial, com ações ativas na BOVESPA, totalizando 119 companhias. Por meio de uma survey obteve-se os dados complementares referentes aos gastos e investimentos em TI; os questionários semiestruturados foram encaminhados diretamente ao Gerente de TI (Chief Information Officer). Estes esforços na coleta de dados primários possibilitaram a obtenção de uma amostra bastante significativa, com 63 indústrias, ou seja, 53% da população estudada. Após coleta, a análise dos dados foi desenvolvida em três etapas: (1) Análise Fatorial (AF) para seleção de fatores de desempenho que resultou no final do processo em doze variáveis para o modelo da pesquisa; (2) Análise de Cluster (AC) que evidenciou três agrupamentos distintos de indústrias por suas características e desempenho e (3) Regressão Múltipla que adotou um modelo econométrico dinâmico, estimado pelo Método dos Momentos Generalizado (GMM), satisfazendo as condições do modelo de Arellano-Bond (1991). Salienta-se que o modelo proposto permitiu tratar de forma adequada metodologicamente as correlações espúrias, possibilitando identificar que os gastos e investimentos em TI, (IGTI t-2), de dois períodos anteriores impactaram no Resultado Operacional Atual, (ROPt), evidenciando o efeito tardio, ou lag effect. Além disso, foi constatado que outras variáveis de rentabilidade e liquidez impactam neste resultado, também adotando defasagem das variáveis. A principal variável de TI da pesquisa, o IGTI, é calculada pela soma de gastos e investimentos em TI anuais (OPEX/CAPEX), dividida pela Receita Operacional Líquida anual. Para pesquisas futuras, há a possibilidade de buscar medidas de avaliação por tipos (categorias) de investimento em TI, visando ao aprofundamento da análise destes impactos no desempenho setorizado (ligado a cada investimento) e da análise de clusters, adotando o modelo de análise da pesquisa.

Submitted by Maike Costa (maiksebas@gmail.com) on 2016-02-26T14:23:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1608246 bytes, checksum: d413321e8f56ef27fe1d4c30fb99ae01 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Viviane Lima da Cunha (viviane@biblioteca.ufpb.br) on 2016-03-01T10:24:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1608246 bytes, checksum: d413321e8f56ef27fe1d4c30fb99ae01 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Viviane Lima da Cunha (viviane@biblioteca.ufpb.br) on 2016-03-01T10:25:41Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1608246 bytes, checksum: d413321e8f56ef27fe1d4c30fb99ae01 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-09T17:39:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1608246 bytes, checksum: d413321e8f56ef27fe1d4c30fb99ae01 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Work teams are seen as flexible structures for collective work organization, with superior ability to improve organizational performance when compared to traditional hierarchical structures. Work teams in information technology (IT) can be perceived as high-performance drives, dynamic and productive, especially important in times of organizational change or leading complex and critics organizational (re)designs. Specifically in the software development field (an IT specialization) these teams performance is a measure of quality, functionality/applicability and reliability of IT artifacts, as their main outcomes. It is also expected that software development teams could be self-managed, so that the main concerns relating to the composition, internal processes, tasks, and performance are of intrinsic nature. This document reports the course of actions for building issues for the thesis demonstration, one that establishes that teams working with intrinsic motivations have better performance than teams that rely solely on extrinsic motivations or controls. Drawing on flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) as a theoretical guidance for explanation of intrinsic motivation, antecedents and consequents of flow on work teams were identified and an instrument was developed for flow measurement in work teams, specifically on IT teams, with also a model proposition for the measurement of flow influence on IT teams performance. Discussions on the findings suggest (1) theoretical implications, especially compilation of empirical evidence linking flow, antecedents and consequences, as a complement and update for classic studies of the same nature, and instrument offering focused on collective perceptions and developed specifically for flow measurement on IT work teams; and (2) practical implications, highlighting the perception of interest in the matter by the practitioners (managers and developers) and rationale offered to subsidize maintaining positive vibe in teams as a way for turnover reduction and widening the appeal to new members, for instance. / Equipes de trabalho podem ser definidas como estruturas flexíveis de organização do trabalho coletivo, com capacidade superior de contribuição para o desempenho organizacional quando comparadas a estruturas hierárquicas tradicionais. Equipes de trabalho em tecnologia da informação (TI) podem ser percebidas como unidades de elevado desempenho, dinâmicas e produtivas, especialmente importantes em tempos de mudança organizacional ou em liderança de projetos organizacionais complexos e críticos. Especificamente em desenvolvimento de software (uma especialidade dos estudos em TI), o desempenho dessas equipes é medido por meio de parâmetros relacionados à qualidade, funcionalidade/aplicabilidade e confiabilidade dos artefatos gerados. Espera-se, ainda, que equipes de desenvolvimento de software sejam autogerenciadas, de modo que as principais preocupações relativas à composição, processos, tarefas e desempenho sejam de natureza intrínseca. O presente documento reporta o percurso de elaboração e provimento de recursos de demonstração da tese de doutoramento que estabelece que equipes que trabalham com motivações intrínsecas apresentam melhor desempenho que equipes que dependem exclusivamente de motivações ou controles extrínsecos. Adotando-se flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) como orientação teórica para explicação de motivação intrínseca, identificaram-se antecedentes que levam ao estado de flow em equipe, e consequentes desse estado, especificamente em equipes de trabalho; e elaborou-se instrumento de mensuração do estado de flow em equipes de trabalho, especificamente em equipes de TI, com proposição de modelo de mensuração da influência de flow sobre o desempenho de equipes de TI. Discussões sobre os resultados sugerem (1) implicações teóricas, especialmente compilação de evidências empíricas relacionando flow, antecedentes e consequentes, e oferta de instrumento focado em percepções coletivas e desenvolvido especificamente para mensuração de flow em equipes de trabalho em TI; e (2) implicações práticas, com destaque para a oferta de base conceitual que subsidie a manutenção de vibração positiva nas equipes como forma de redução de rotatividade (turnover) e ampliação da atração a novos profissionais.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / This study will refer specifically to the reasons why SMEs are not willing to use e-payment as their first-choice method: the reasons hampering e-payment adoption. / South Africa

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / The essence of e-government is to link government activities with the advanced technology that the world is having today. This technology has already shown a remarkable job in bringing efficiency in private sector through e-business, e-banking, e-procurement etc.It is, therefore, recommended by this study that government and its agencies could utilize e-government initiatives to bring service delivery closer to citizens. By so doing government officials and citizens would become much closer and perform their duties well and efficiently.The experience from various countries shows that there are various Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and e-government initiatives even in poor countries. In rural areas of Tanzania where electricity has never been thought to reach where illiteracy rates are increasing and where poverty is high, people are using mobile phones for their activities. This is possible as the prices of mobile phones are low and networks are available in such rural part of the country. Tanzania enacted ICT policy in 2003 which, among other things, emphasizes the need to have success in e-government services. Experience on ground, though, reveals that this policy is often not implemented. What seems in the implementation of ICT policy in Tanzania difficult is the lack of political will and the will to agree to change.On the other hand, Tanzanian citizens have been for a long time ready for change. A good example may be advent of the mobile phone industry in the country. Many respondents in this research expressed the need to adopt ICT to advance ordinary people.These respondents recommended that government officials accept change with regard to ICT, to introduce developmental plans and be innovative and creative enough in establishing service delivery programmes. As borne out by this study, ICT can also be used to link the private sector, public sector and service delivery to citizens.Still though, poor countries, apart from having many priorities to contend with, have to acknowledge that the world is changing rapidly and in order to combat poverty more effectively, technology is useful as it makes people understand the trends and changes that the world is witnessing today. Indeed, Tanzania can use ICT to move ahead in e-government because it has a good telecommunication system, a factor that would allow for the success of online services.

This thesis is devoted to recruitment and information technologies that support this process. The aim was to get recruitment process in concrete company more efective. The theoretical part deals with concepts and perspectives on the recruitment process as well as information technologies supporting HR field and webdesign innovations. In the practical part was analyzed the current status of the recruitment process and career sites, as the strongest source of candidates in a concrete company. There were identified weak points. Based on this analysis have been implemented new e-recruitment application and new career site that eliminate these weak points. The last part of thesis was based on real measurements evaluating the benefits of implemented changes.

Syftet är att undersöka hur ett antal gymnasielärare som undervisar i svenska ser på datortillgång och datoranvändning, samt vilka krav de ställer på elevernas datoranvändning i kursen Svenska A. Undersökningen genomfördes via en webbenkät, vilken distribuerades under mars 2009. Resultatet av webbenkäten ställs mot beskrivningar av förutsättningar för skrivande och aktuella styrdokument. Tillgången på lärardatorer är otillräcklig och tillgången på elevdatorer är ännu mera otillräcklig. Datormedierad kommunikation används för att effektivisera undervisningen och för att nå eleverna med information. En majoritet av lärarna i undersökningen har inte erbjudits kompetensfortbildning inom området datormedierad kommunikation av sin arbetsgivare. I kursen Svenska A erbjuds eleverna varierande datortillgång, allt från varje lektion till en gång per kurs. Lärarnas krav på elevernas datorkompetens i kursen varierar mellan ”inga krav” och omfattande krav. I diskussionen belyser jag hur ny teknik assimileras av skola och undervisning och sätter in mina resultat i en tidskontext. / The purpose of my investigation is to study the view of supply of computers and the use of computers among a num¬ber of senior high school teachers, teaching Swedish. I also investigate their demands on pupils and their use of computers in the course “Svenska A”. My web inquiry was distributed during March 2009. The results of the inquiry have been compared with descriptions of requirements for writing and with former and present curricula. The supply of computers for teachers is insufficient and the supply of computers for pupils is even more so. Communication mediated by computer is being used to give information to pupils and to make teaching more efficient. A majority of the teachers have not been offered further training by their employers within the field of communication mediated by computer. In the course “Svenska A” pupils are being offered to use computers in varying degrees, from once per course till every lesson. The teachers’ claims on the pupils’ competence in their use of computers vary from “no demands” to wide demands. In the discussion I shed light on how new technology is being assimilated by schools and education. I also insert my results in a context of time.

Background: To win the “war for talent” and recruit highly skilled candidates, employers need to distinguish themselves from their competitors by securing employer-of-choice (EOC) status. In competitive industries such as information technology (IT), companies focus on shaping unique employer branding (EB) strategies to help find or retain top talent and the indispensable edge or advantages that come along with them. At the same time, diverse IT employees are contending with different forms of prejudice and discrimination within the industry, making it essential for companies to clearly present their agendas of diversity and inclusivity through EB that communicates a “great place to work” for employees.   Purpose: While there are various bodies of EB-focused research, few studies have empirically explored how diversity and inclusion are communicated across industries. Accordingly, this study explores the use of external digital communication for promoting EB inclusivity deployed by the human resources (HR) and marketing departments of IT companies.   Method: This study uses exploratory research within a qualitative research design, along with an abductive approach, preexisting theories, and empirical data gathered from seven semi-structured interviews and digital communication materials from three IT companies: CGI, Nexer, and Toxic. The data is analyzed using the Gioia method and content analysis. Finally, a revised conceptual framework is developed.   Conclusion: The results of this study show that a range of external digital communication channels are needed to effectively communicate EB inclusivity. This can be achieved by portraying diversity and inclusion in different dimensions, in addition to successful diversity- and inclusion-driven projects, initiatives, and storytelling. It is essential to highlight different demographics within the company, for instance, from junior and senior, to male and female employees, as well as individuals from underrepresented groups. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the IT industry is in a state of continuous innovation and evolution while also being highly competitive in terms of securing top recruits who can choose between their prospective employers. There is also a need to gain wider perspectives when creating IT solutions for diverse groups worldwide and there is a clear shortage of women in the industry. Therefore, it is important for IT companies to communicate their EB with diversity and inclusion in mind — and in practice through using the revised framework that presents relevant actors, tools, communication channels, and dimensions of D&I. On a managerial level, local and international actors are recommended to work in close collaboration, utilize modern technology, and follow up their external communication to attract potential employees who may one day become ambassadors for the company. / Bakgrund: För att vinna "kriget om talang" och rekrytera högkvalificerade kandidater behöver arbetsgivare särskilja sig från sina konkurrenter genom att framstå som en attraktiv arbetsgivare. Inom konkurrensutsatta branscher som informationsteknik (IT) fokuserar företag på att hitta unika strategier för att bygga sitt arbetsgivarvarumärke (EB) för att hitta och behålla högkvalificerad personal och de ovärderliga fördelar som följer av detta. Samtidigt möter IT-anställda olika former av fördomar och diskriminering inom branschen, vilket gör det nödvändigt för företag att tydligt presentera sina principer för mångfald och inkludering genom EB som ger bilden av en "fantastisk arbetsplats" för anställda.   Syfte: Trots att det finns tidigare forskning inom EB, har få studier empiriskt utforskat hur mångfald och inkludering kommuniceras i olika branscher. Denna studie undersöker därför användningen av extern digital kommunikation för att främja inkludering genom EB, vid personalavdelningar och marknadsavdelningar hos IT-företag.   Metod: Denna studie använder sig av utforskande forskning inom en kvalitativ forskningsdesign, tillsammans med en abduktiv ansats, befintliga teorier och empirisk data från sju semi-strukturerade intervjuer och digitala kommunikationsmaterial från tre IT-företag: CGI, Nexer och Toxic. Data har analyserats med Gioia-metoden och genom innehållsanalys. Slutligten utvecklas ett reviderat konceptuellt ramverk.   Slutsats: Resultaten av denna studie visar att olika externa digitala kommunikationskanaler behövs för att effektivt kommunicera inkludering genom EB. Detta kan uppnås genom att porträttera mångfald och inkludering i olika dimensioner; som tillsammans med framgångsrika projekt eller initiativ och berättelser som drivs av mångfald och inkludering. Det är viktigt att framhäva olika demografier inom företaget, till exempel juniora och seniora anställda, manliga och kvinnliga anställda, samt individer från underrepresenterade grupper. Resultaten visar att IT-branschen befinner sig i en ständig process av innovation och utveckling samtidigt som den är starkt konkurrenspräglad vad gäller att attrahera topprekryter som kan välja mellan sina framtida arbetsgivare. Det finns också ett behov av att bredda perspektiven vid skapandet av IT-lösningar för olika grupper globalt, och det råder en tydlig brist på kvinnor inom branschen. Därför är det viktigt för IT-företag att kommunicera sitt EB med mångfald och inkludering i åtanke – och i praktiken genom att använda det reviderade ramverket som presenterar relevanta aktörer, verktyg, kommunikationskanaler och dimensioner av mångfald och inkludering. På ledningsnivån rekommenderas ett nära samarbete mellan lokala och internationella aktörer, att modern teknik utnyttjas, och att och extern kommunikation följs upp för att locka potentiella kandidater som en dag kan bli ambassadörer för företaget.

本質性個案研究目的在探討以國際教育網路社群IEARN進行專題導向式跨國互動EFL學習的英語教學設計。該學習方式與教學模式特性諸多符合九年一貫課程改革理念。然而，在國內文獻及研究顯示，極少英語教師進行專題式網路教學設計。本研究個案是國中兩名英語教師與其班導學生為期兩年半的跨國文化專題學習。從個案訪談與課室觀察中發現，資訊科技融入英語教學，教師具備高度科技能力並非必要考量，而是教學策略、班級經營、師生合作為首務。 依據個案進行專題式導向學習過程中所面臨的挑戰與完成的歷程，研究者對教師、學校主管、教育當局與社會提出建言，以求改善與進步。這項教學革新並非只是順應課程改革，更是為了發展學生全面的學習與實踐終身學習為目標。 / The purpose of this research is to understand the challenge of project-based telecommunication activities through the IEARN for EFL learning. The learning methods and teaching strategies of project-based learning (PBL) conform to the rationale of Grade 1-9 Curriculum reform. However, literature showed that very few EFL teachers became involved in PBL with information technology for instruction. This research, conducted as a case study in the qualitative methodology, describes how two junior high school English teachers and their homeroom students implemented PBL through international network and how they developed cross-culture awareness in half and two years. It was found that successful EFL learning infused with information technology relied much more on pedagogy, class management and teacher-student collaboration than on teacher's computer skills. Based on the challenges and implement revealed in the process of PBL through telecommunication activities, the researcher gave suggestions to teachers, school administrators, educational authority and community for further improvement. The instructional innovation not only met educational reform standards but also developed EFL students' holistic learning in a lifelong fashion.