The Object Management Group (OMG) accepted the Unified Modelling Language (UML) as a standard in 1997, yet there is sparse empirical evidence to justify its choice. This research aimed to address that lack by investigating the modification of programs for which external representations, drawn using the UML notations most commonly used in industry, were provided. The aim of the research was to discover if diagrams using those UML notations provided the modifying programmer with cognitive support. The application of the use of modelling to assist program modification was chosen as a result of interviews that were carried out in New Zealand and North America to discover how workers in the software industry used modelling, and if so, whether UML notation satisfied their needs. The most preferred UML diagrams were identified from the interviews. A framework of modelling use in software development was derived. A longitudinal study at a Seattle-based company was the source that suggested that program modification should be investigated. The methodology chosen for the research required subjects to modify two non-trivial programs, one of which was supplied with UML documentation. There were two aspects to the methodology. First, the subjects’ performances with and without the aid of UML documentation were compared. Modifying a program is an exercise in problem solving which is a cognitive activity. If the use of UML improved subjects’ performances then it could be said that the UML had aided the subjects’ cognition. Second, concurrent verbal protocols were collected whilst the subjects modified the programs. The protocols for the modification with UML documentation, for ten of the more successful subjects, were transcribed and analysed according to a framework derived from the literature. The framework listed the possible cognitive steps involved in problem solving where cognition could be distributed to and from external representations. The categories of evidence that would confirm cognitive support were also derived from the literature. The experiments confirmed that programmers from similar backgrounds varied widely in ability and style. Twenty programmers modified both an invoice application and a diary application. There was some indication that the UML diagrams aided performance. The analyses of all ten of the transcribed subjects showed evidence of UML cognitive support.

Whole document restricted, see Access Instructions file below for details of how to access the print copy. / Since the mid 1990s, thousands of companies around the world have implemented Enterprise Systems (ES), which are considered to be the most important development in the corporate use of information technology. By providing computerized support to business processes spanning both the enterprise and the supply chain, these systems have become an indispensable tool utilized by organizations to accomplish and maintain efficient and effective operational performance. However, there are many cases in which ES implementation has failed in terms of the required time and budget, and more importantly, in terms of functionality and performance. One of the main causes of these failures is the misidentification and improper selection of business processes to be implemented into the ES, which are a crucial element of the system's implementation life cycle. In order to achieve effective implementation, a ‘necessary and sufficient’ set of business processes must be designed and implemented. Implementing an excessive set of business processes is costly; yet implementing an insufficient set is ruinous. The heuristic identification of the set of business processes, based on requirement elicitation, is flawed; there is no guarantee that all the necessary processes have been captured (Type I error), and/or that superfluous processes have been selected for implementation (Type II error). The existing implementation methods do not include a methodology to address this vital issue. This thesis aims to resolve this problem and to provide a methodology that will generate a necessary and sufficient set of business processes in a given organization, based on its specific characteristics, which will be used as a baseline for implementing an ES. A proper definition of the business processes and their associated properties is proposed and detailed. The properties are then used as parameters to generate the complete set of all the possible business processes in the organization; from this set, necessary and sufficient processes are selected. The methodology exposes the fundamental level of business processes, which are then used as a baseline for further phases in the implementation process. The proposed methodology has been tested through the analysis of companies that have implemented ES. In each of these cases, the identification of business processes utilizing the proposed methodology has proven to provide superior results to those obtained through all other implemented practices, producing a better approximation of their existing business processes.

Whole document restricted, see Access Instructions file below for details of how to access the print copy. / As computer networks become more complex, and more heterogeneous (often involving systems from multiple vendors), the importance of integrated network management increases. This thesis summarises the efforts of research carried out 1 ) to identify the characteristics and requirements of an Integrated Network Management Environment (INME) and its individual components, 2) to propose a model to represent the INME, 3) to demonstrate the validity of the model, 4) to describe the steps needed to formally specify the model, and 5) to suggest an implementation plan for the INME. One of the key aspects of this thesis is the introduction of three different and complementary models used to integrate the emerging OSI management standards with the proven-and-tried network management solutions promoted by the Internet Activities Board. The Protocol-Oriented Network Management Model is used to represent the existing network management supported by the INME: ie, OSI and Internet-based systems. The Element-Oriented Network Management Model represents the components that are used within individual network systems. It describes the managed objects, and the platform application program interfaces (APIs). This model also includes the translation mechanisms needed to support the interaction between OSI managers and Internet agents. The Interoperability Model is used to represent the underlying communications infrastructure supporting network management. The communications between agents and managers is represented with this model by using the required protocol stacks (OSI or TCP/IP), and by depicting the interconnection between the entities using the network management functions. This three-pronged classification provides a richer level of abstraction facilitating the coexistence of the standard network management systems, allowing different levels of modeling. complexity, and improving the access to managed objects. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to describe a framework that assists developers of network management applications in the process of integrating their solutions to an open systems network management platform. This framework will also help network managers to minimise the risks involved in the transition from first generation network management systems to more integrated alternatives as they become available.

The Object Management Group (OMG) accepted the Unified Modelling Language (UML) as a standard in 1997, yet there is sparse empirical evidence to justify its choice. This research aimed to address that lack by investigating the modification of programs for which external representations, drawn using the UML notations most commonly used in industry, were provided. The aim of the research was to discover if diagrams using those UML notations provided the modifying programmer with cognitive support. The application of the use of modelling to assist program modification was chosen as a result of interviews that were carried out in New Zealand and North America to discover how workers in the software industry used modelling, and if so, whether UML notation satisfied their needs. The most preferred UML diagrams were identified from the interviews. A framework of modelling use in software development was derived. A longitudinal study at a Seattle-based company was the source that suggested that program modification should be investigated. The methodology chosen for the research required subjects to modify two non-trivial programs, one of which was supplied with UML documentation. There were two aspects to the methodology. First, the subjects’ performances with and without the aid of UML documentation were compared. Modifying a program is an exercise in problem solving which is a cognitive activity. If the use of UML improved subjects’ performances then it could be said that the UML had aided the subjects’ cognition. Second, concurrent verbal protocols were collected whilst the subjects modified the programs. The protocols for the modification with UML documentation, for ten of the more successful subjects, were transcribed and analysed according to a framework derived from the literature. The framework listed the possible cognitive steps involved in problem solving where cognition could be distributed to and from external representations. The categories of evidence that would confirm cognitive support were also derived from the literature. The experiments confirmed that programmers from similar backgrounds varied widely in ability and style. Twenty programmers modified both an invoice application and a diary application. There was some indication that the UML diagrams aided performance. The analyses of all ten of the transcribed subjects showed evidence of UML cognitive support.

Whole document restricted, see Access Instructions file below for details of how to access the print copy. / As computer networks become more complex, and more heterogeneous (often involving systems from multiple vendors), the importance of integrated network management increases. This thesis summarises the efforts of research carried out 1 ) to identify the characteristics and requirements of an Integrated Network Management Environment (INME) and its individual components, 2) to propose a model to represent the INME, 3) to demonstrate the validity of the model, 4) to describe the steps needed to formally specify the model, and 5) to suggest an implementation plan for the INME. One of the key aspects of this thesis is the introduction of three different and complementary models used to integrate the emerging OSI management standards with the proven-and-tried network management solutions promoted by the Internet Activities Board. The Protocol-Oriented Network Management Model is used to represent the existing network management supported by the INME: ie, OSI and Internet-based systems. The Element-Oriented Network Management Model represents the components that are used within individual network systems. It describes the managed objects, and the platform application program interfaces (APIs). This model also includes the translation mechanisms needed to support the interaction between OSI managers and Internet agents. The Interoperability Model is used to represent the underlying communications infrastructure supporting network management. The communications between agents and managers is represented with this model by using the required protocol stacks (OSI or TCP/IP), and by depicting the interconnection between the entities using the network management functions. This three-pronged classification provides a richer level of abstraction facilitating the coexistence of the standard network management systems, allowing different levels of modeling. complexity, and improving the access to managed objects. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to describe a framework that assists developers of network management applications in the process of integrating their solutions to an open systems network management platform. This framework will also help network managers to minimise the risks involved in the transition from first generation network management systems to more integrated alternatives as they become available.

This research examines the application of the ISO 9000 model for quality management in healthcare. Exploratory case study is made of three healthcare provider organisations: community health service; independent practitioner association; Maori health network. Three research models are developed to examine identified gaps and areas of interest in healthcare quality management literature. The first model relates to differences between generic standards and specification standards. The second model relates to the fit of healthcare service delivery systems and ISO 9000. The third model relates to exploration of the linkages and co-ordination of an integrated care delivery network. One proposition and two hypotheses are developed in relation to the models, and are closely associated with gaps in healthcare service quality knowledge. Strong support is found for the first hypothesis though not the second hypothesis, and there are also some unexpected results. There is strong support that the process of implementing the ISO 9000 model will enhance healthcare management performance, even though the outcomes are unpredictable. There are indications supporting the notion that implementation of the ISO 9000 model will increase effective linkages and co-ordination within integrated care delivery networks. The body of evidence accumulated during the study did not, however, permit a valid conclusion regarding the hypothesis. The findings of the study can be extended to other healthcare service areas and through interpretation and extrapolation they add value to healthcare service quality research in general. In particular, the findings of the three case studies in this research suggest that future models for healthcare service quality should include a comprehensive generic model for quality management of individual and integrated healthcare service organisations.

Whole document restricted, see Access Instructions file below for details of how to access the print copy. / Achieving and sustaining business-IT alignment in organisations continues to be a management challenge into the new millennium. As organisations strive toward this end, researchers are attempting to better understand the alignment phenomenon. Empirical research into business-IT alignment is dominated by studies examining the relationship between business strategy, information technology and performance. Investigations into the factors enabling or inhibiting alignment are emerging. This research has traditionally taken a behavioural perspective. There is evidence of little research that examines the issue through a cognitive lens. This thesis builds on and extends the study of business-IT alignment by investigating the cognition of the key stakeholders of the alignment process - business and IS executives. Drawing on Personal Construct Theory (Kelly, 1955), this study uses a cognitive mapping methodology known as the repertory grid technique to investigate two questions: i) is there a positive relationship between business-IT alignment and shared understanding between business and IS executives?; and ii) are there differences in the cognitive maps of business and IS executives in companies that report high business-IT alignment and those that report low business-IT alignment? Shared understanding is defined as cognition that is held in common between and that which is distributed amongst business and IS executives. It is portrayed in the form of a cognitive map for each company. The study proposes that business-IT alignment is directly related to the shared understanding between business and IS executives and that the cognitive maps of these executive groups are less diverse in companies that report a high level of alignment. Eighty business and IS executives from six companies were interviewed. Cognitive maps were elicited from the research participants from which diversity between cognitive maps of business and IS executives are measured. A collective cognitive map was produced to illustrate the quality of the shared understanding in each company. The state of business-IT alignment in each company was also measured. The results of the study suggest that there is a strong positive link between business-IT alignment and shared understanding between business and IS executives. As expected, companies with a high-level of business-IT alignment demonstrate high quality shared understanding between its business and IS executives as measured and portrayed by their collective cognitive maps. The investigation further finds significant diversity in the structure and content of the cognitive maps of these executive groups in companies reporting a low-level of alignment. This study concludes that shared understanding, between business and IS executives, is important to business-IT alignment. Reconciling the diversity in the cognitive maps of business and IS executives is a step toward achieving and sustaining alignment. Practical approaches to developing shared understanding are proposed. A methodology to aid organisations in assessing shared understanding between their business and IS executives is also outlined. Finally research on business-IT alignment continues to be a fruitful and important field of IS research. This study suggests that the most interesting issues are at the interface between cognition and behaviour. The process of business-IT alignment in organisations is characterised by the individuality and commonality in the cognition of key stakeholders, its influence on the behaviour of these members and hence the organisational action taken.

Although there is a high risk of failure in the implementation of ICT projects (which appears to extend to health ICT projects), we continue to implement health information systems in order to deliver quality, cost-effective healthcare. The purpose of the research was to participate in and study the change management as a critical success factor in health ICT projects, and to examine people’s responses to change so as to develop understanding and theory that could be used in future change management programmes. The research was conducted within the context of a large infrastructure project that resulted from the emergence of a shared services organisation (from two participating District Health Boards in Auckland, New Zealand). Action research (AR) formed the basis of the methodology used, and provided the foundation for a change management programme: the AR intervention. Grounded theory (GT) was used for some of the data analysis, the generation of themes by means of constant comparison and the deeper examination of the change process using theoretical sampling. AR and GT together supported the development of theory regarding the change process associated with health ICT projects. Health ICT projects were revealed in the findings as exhibiting the properties of complex adaptive systems. This complexity highlighted the art of change management as a critical success factor for such projects. The fabric of change emerged as a composite of processes linked to project processes and organisational processes. The turning point in the change process from the before state to the after state is marked by a capability crisis which requires effective patterns of leadership, sensitive targeting of communication, effective learning, and management of increased workload and diminishing resources during the course of health ICT projects. A well managed capability crisis period as a component of change management can substantially contribute to health ICT project success.

This research examines the application of the ISO 9000 model for quality management in healthcare. Exploratory case study is made of three healthcare provider organisations: community health service; independent practitioner association; Maori health network. Three research models are developed to examine identified gaps and areas of interest in healthcare quality management literature. The first model relates to differences between generic standards and specification standards. The second model relates to the fit of healthcare service delivery systems and ISO 9000. The third model relates to exploration of the linkages and co-ordination of an integrated care delivery network. One proposition and two hypotheses are developed in relation to the models, and are closely associated with gaps in healthcare service quality knowledge. Strong support is found for the first hypothesis though not the second hypothesis, and there are also some unexpected results. There is strong support that the process of implementing the ISO 9000 model will enhance healthcare management performance, even though the outcomes are unpredictable. There are indications supporting the notion that implementation of the ISO 9000 model will increase effective linkages and co-ordination within integrated care delivery networks. The body of evidence accumulated during the study did not, however, permit a valid conclusion regarding the hypothesis. The findings of the study can be extended to other healthcare service areas and through interpretation and extrapolation they add value to healthcare service quality research in general. In particular, the findings of the three case studies in this research suggest that future models for healthcare service quality should include a comprehensive generic model for quality management of individual and integrated healthcare service organisations.

Whole document restricted, see Access Instructions file below for details of how to access the print copy. / Achieving and sustaining business-IT alignment in organisations continues to be a management challenge into the new millennium. As organisations strive toward this end, researchers are attempting to better understand the alignment phenomenon. Empirical research into business-IT alignment is dominated by studies examining the relationship between business strategy, information technology and performance. Investigations into the factors enabling or inhibiting alignment are emerging. This research has traditionally taken a behavioural perspective. There is evidence of little research that examines the issue through a cognitive lens. This thesis builds on and extends the study of business-IT alignment by investigating the cognition of the key stakeholders of the alignment process - business and IS executives. Drawing on Personal Construct Theory (Kelly, 1955), this study uses a cognitive mapping methodology known as the repertory grid technique to investigate two questions: i) is there a positive relationship between business-IT alignment and shared understanding between business and IS executives?; and ii) are there differences in the cognitive maps of business and IS executives in companies that report high business-IT alignment and those that report low business-IT alignment? Shared understanding is defined as cognition that is held in common between and that which is distributed amongst business and IS executives. It is portrayed in the form of a cognitive map for each company. The study proposes that business-IT alignment is directly related to the shared understanding between business and IS executives and that the cognitive maps of these executive groups are less diverse in companies that report a high level of alignment. Eighty business and IS executives from six companies were interviewed. Cognitive maps were elicited from the research participants from which diversity between cognitive maps of business and IS executives are measured. A collective cognitive map was produced to illustrate the quality of the shared understanding in each company. The state of business-IT alignment in each company was also measured. The results of the study suggest that there is a strong positive link between business-IT alignment and shared understanding between business and IS executives. As expected, companies with a high-level of business-IT alignment demonstrate high quality shared understanding between its business and IS executives as measured and portrayed by their collective cognitive maps. The investigation further finds significant diversity in the structure and content of the cognitive maps of these executive groups in companies reporting a low-level of alignment. This study concludes that shared understanding, between business and IS executives, is important to business-IT alignment. Reconciling the diversity in the cognitive maps of business and IS executives is a step toward achieving and sustaining alignment. Practical approaches to developing shared understanding are proposed. A methodology to aid organisations in assessing shared understanding between their business and IS executives is also outlined. Finally research on business-IT alignment continues to be a fruitful and important field of IS research. This study suggests that the most interesting issues are at the interface between cognition and behaviour. The process of business-IT alignment in organisations is characterised by the individuality and commonality in the cognition of key stakeholders, its influence on the behaviour of these members and hence the organisational action taken.