Le management de l’expérience client est un terrain d’étude trop peu exploré en marketing (Lars Grønholdt et al., 2015; Lemon et Verhoef, 2017) et de nombreux professionnels décrivent les enjeux stratégiques, plus spécifiquement, de la conception de parcours client ainsi que la complexité managériale à les concevoir en situation de cross-canal.Notre but, dans une visée prescriptive et normative de la recherche, est d’améliorer, à travers la création d’un outil de gestion, les capacités marketing des managers de parcours client. Nous limitions notre travail doctoral au secteur de la distribution française en cross-canal. La thèse suit la méthodologie de Design Science (Romme, 2003) visant à concevoir un artefact, c’est-à-dire un outil de gestion dont les professionnels peuvent s’emparer pour réduire la complexité du management de l’expérience client. Trois études empiriques qualitatives sont conduites : deux séries d’entretiens individuels et une étude de cas pour tester l’outil conçu.L’artefact développé dans cette thèse comprend un ensemble de concepts, une méthode de travail ainsi que sa réalisation effective appelée instanciation, fondée sur les résultats des deux premiers terrains. Nous montrons que le choix théorique de considérer le parcours client comme une coproduction de ressources et de fonder la conception de parcours sur une structure modulaire permet d’améliorer les capacités marketing et d’en développer de nouvelles, contribuant ainsi au savoir managérial mais aussi académique car notre recherche explore, d’un point de vue théorique, les ressources engagées par le client et l’entreprise, ainsi que les capacités marketing nécessaires pour le manager et leurs dynamiques. / Customer experience management is less explored in marketing (Lars Grønholdt et al., 2015; Lemon and Verhoef, 2017) and many practitioners describe strategic issues, and specifically, the managerial complexity to design of customer journey in cross-channel location.Our goal in our prescriptive and normative research, is aiming to improve, through the creation of a management tool, managers’ marketing capabilities. We restrict our doctoral work to French cross-channel retail. The thesis follows the Design Science Methodology (Romme, 2003) aimed at designing an artifact, which is a management tool that professionals can take to reduce the complexity of customer experience management. Three qualitative empirical studies are conducted: two series of interviews and a case study to test the artifact.The artifact developed in this thesis includes a set of concepts, a method and its effective realization called instantiation, based on the results of the first two interviews. We show that the theoretical choice to consider the customer journey as a co-production of resources and the design of customer journey as a modular structure allows to improve actual marketing capabilities and develop new ones, thus contributing to managerial knowledge but also academic because our research explores, from a theoretical point of view, the resources committed by the customer and the company, as well as marketing capabilities for the manager and their dynamics.

The goal of the project has been to investigate how room reservation systems should be designed so that booked rooms are utilized and so that ambiguities about booked rooms do not arise. User interfaces have been created through a prototype and algorithms have been designed and implemented. The Design Science method was utilized for activities related to prototypes and algorithms. Evaluation of the prototype involved conducting usability tests which have shown that the user interface is easy to use. Unit tests and integration tests have been applied to ensure that the implemented algorithms work properly. A survey was conducted to examine how an existing system and the proposed features are perceived. The results of the survey indicate that the identified problems are experienced by the respondents and that the proposed features are appreciated. More respondents would however have been desirable. Moreover, the results of the usability tests may differ if they are performed on a complete system. These tests should include people of different technical competence. Analysis of the algorithms mentions assumptions made during design, considerations for implementation and possible corrections. Analysis of the unit tests and integration tests mentions that they are limited in some aspects. Design Science has been useful for the project but has not always been perfect. Future work involves examining how authentication for the systems should be designed, developing a complete system that implements the proposed solutions, correcting the algorithms and gathering more data on how the proposed solutions and existing systems are perceived. / Projektets mål har varit att undersöka hur rumsreservationssystem ska utformas så att bokade rum nyttjas och så missförstånd om vilka rum som är bokade ej uppstår. För ändamålet har användargränssnitt skapats genom en prototyp och algoritmer har framställts och implementerats. Framställningen av prototyper samt konstruktion och implementering av algoritmer har skett enligt Design Science. Utvärdering av prototypen har inneburit genomförande av användbarhetstester som har visat att det föreslagna användargränssnittet är lättanvänt. Enhetstester och integrationstester har tillämpats upprepade gånger för att säkerställa att de implementerade algoritmerna fungerar korrekt. En enkätundersökning har genomförts för att ta reda på hur ett befintligt rumsreservationssystem och de föreslagna funktionerna uppfattas. Resultatet av enkätundersökningen tyder på att problemen som identifierats upplevs bland enkätdeltagarna och att de föreslagna funktionerna är eftertraktade. Projektets resultat tyder på att fler enkätdeltagare hade varit önskvärt och att användbarhetstestens resultat kan bli annorlunda om de genomförs på ett riktigt system samt att de bör innefatta personer av olika teknisk kompetens. Analys av algoritmerna nämner antaganden som gjorts för deras framställning, vad som bör tas i åtanke för deras implementation och korrigeringar som kan genomföras. Analys av enhetstesten och integrationstesten nämner att de är begränsade i vissa avseenden. Design Science har varit användbart för projektets syfte men har inte alltid varit perfekt. Framtida arbete innebär att ta reda på hur autentisering för systemen bör utformas, utveckla ett komplett system som implementerar lösningsförslagen, korrigera algoritmerna som framställts samt samla in mer data om hur lösningsförslagen och befintliga system uppfattas.

A rising problem exists regarding the ownership of memes. This research proposes a solution consisting of an IT artefact that solves this problem by utilising design science research in combination with affordance theory and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This artefact is designed by identifying the problem areas and creating affordances that guide the design process, using the design science research methodology by Peffers et al. (2007). The artefact is evaluated and considered a potential solution to the problem with meme ownership. The affordances are connected to the designed features and offer contributions in the form of a novel artefact and documented design processes. By using affordance theory as a lens to help the design, further research can build upon this idea and expand research by combining design science with affordances. The practical implementation of NFTs gives insights into how NFTs can be applied in the case of tokenising digital goods and allows people without knowledge of blockchains to participate.

Möjligheten för individer att uttrycka sig på internet har underlättat för det fria ordet, som är en demokratisk grundsten i vårt samhälle. Baksidan av detta mynt är att alltmer våldsam radikalisering sker runt om på digitala plattformar. I digitala miljöer sprids idag våldsbejakande propaganda där våldsverkare hyllas som hjältar, våld mot fienden rättfärdigas, och instruktioner om hur attentat kan genomföras delas. För socialt utsatta individer som får sin verklighetsförankring i dessa våldsbejakande digitala miljöer kan världsuppfattningen ändras till den grad att de till slut själva väljer att utföra grova våldsdåd. Att kunna identifiera digitala plattformar där diskussioner om våld är mer vanligt förekommande kan därför ge en första indikation på vilka sidor som riskerar att potentiellt främja våldsutövning. Tidigare forskning om hotbedömning genom textanalys har främst fokuserat på att identifiera individer som utgör ett hot. Mindre utrymme har ägnats åt att utveckla metoder som istället kan identifiera gemenskaper som utgör ett hot för individen. Det saknas idag applicerbara och validerade metoder som genom automatiserad textanalys kan mäta diskussioner om våld på digitala forum. Arbetets forskningsmål var att skapa en metod som ska kunna mäta förekomsten av våld i diskussioner på digitala plattformar, och tillämpar metodramverket designforskning. Genom både kvalitativa och kvantitativa metoder skapades en ordlista över en mängd våldsuttryck som används på flera samtida sociala medier. Programkod utvecklades för att automatiskt kunna räkna antalet förekommande våldsuttryck i en given textsamling. Genom tidigare tillgänglig data från flera olika forum utfördes en testning och utvärdering av metoden. Resultaten visar att våldsuttryck var upp till 100 gånger mer vanligt förekommande på vissa av de mer kända högerextrema forumen jämfört med mer generella diskussionsforum. Spektrumet är i linje med vad som initialt skulle kunna förväntas utifrån karaktären på dessa olika forum och indikerar därmed att metoden levererar realistiska resultat. En djupare kvalitativ analys av inläggen skulle vara nödvändig för att identifiera hur stor del av de identifierade våldsuttrycken tas upp i diskussioner med en positiv inställning till våld. / Individuals being able to express themselves on the internet has been a boon to free speech, a democratic pillar to our community. The backside of this is that an increasing amount of violent radicalization is happening all over social media. At this moment, propaganda that praises violence is being spread on digital platforms, where violent perpetrators are praised as heroes, violence against "the enemy" is justified, and instructions on how to perform violent attacks are being spread. Socially vulnerable individuals repeatedly exposed to violent social communities can have their worldview change so drastically that they end up committing violent crimes. That is why identifying digital platforms where discussions about violence are more commonly occurring could give a first indication of which sites pose a higher risk of promoting violent attacks. Previous research on threat assessment through text analysis has mainly focused on detecting warning behaviours in radicalised individuals. Less room within this area of research has been given to developing methods that instead identify communities that can pose a risk to the individual. Therefore, there is a lack of applicable and validated methods that can measure discussions of violence on social media through automated text analysis. The research goal of this thesis was to create a method that can measure the occurrence of violent discussions on digital platforms using the method framework Design Science. A list of violent words and expressions commonly used on social media was created with qualitative and quantitative methods. Code was then developed to automatically count the number of occurrences of these expressions in a given text. Testing and evaluation of the method were carried out with data previously made available from several forums. The results show that violent expressions occurred up to 100 times more often on some of the more known right-wing extremist forums than on more general discussion forums. The resulting spectrum aligns with what one initially could expect to find by judging the character of these forums and therefore indicates that the method delivers accurate results. A deeper qualitative analysis of the posts would be necessary to identify how many of the identified violent expressions appeared in discussions with a positive attitude toward violence.

Arbetet utforskar hur väl det går att tillämpa Slow Design och dess principer (reveal, expand, reflect, engage, participate, evolve och ritual) inom utvecklingen av digitala artefakter. I kontrast till ett fokus på effektiva interaktioner, fokuserar Slow Design på att främja medvetna interaktioner genom att skapa tillfällen för reflektion. Tidigare forskning har däremot mestadels fokuserat på tillämpningar av filosofin i design av fysiska artefakter. Med detta i åtanke, syftar detta arbete att besvara följande frågeställning: Hur kan principer för Slow Design appliceras i utvecklingen av digitala artefakter för att uppmuntra reflektioner hos användare? Huvudsakliga forskningsstrategin i studien var design science, med fokus på design och demonstration. Problemformuleringen och en del av behovsdefinitionen baserades på insamlad data från ett tidigare projektarbete genomfört av samma författare, där en virtuell matbutik utvecklades baserat på data från en empirisk studie kring mathandel. Utifrån detta togs en behovsdefinition fram för detta arbete, där krav på artefakten fastställdes. Detta kompletterades vidare med en tillämpning av principerna för Slow Design. Designarbetet inleddes därefter med en idégenerering, där ett flertal olika idéer genererades utifrån specificerade krav och principer för Slow Design. En validering med användare resulterade sedan i ett urval av idéer som användes som utgångspunkt för tidiga skisser på nätbutiken. Med utgångspunkt i skisserna utvecklades en prototyp av en nätbutik där olika funktioner implementerades med syftet att gestalta ett flertal principer för Slow Design. Därefter genomfördes en demonstration av prototypen, där sex deltagare ombads utföra ett antal uppgifter med både prototypen och en etablerad nätbutik. Detta genomfördes inom ramen av en mindre kartläggning där både observationer och semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes, som kunde ge insikter kring deltagarnas upplevelser av den utvecklade artefakten jämfört med en etablerad nätbutik. Insamlad data analyserades tematiskt och resulterade i tre teman: transparens, form och temporalitet. Dessa tre teman visade på övergripande aspekter i nätbutiken som kunde påverka reflektion. Utifrån den bedömning som gjordes, lyckades fem av sex implementerade principer framgångsrikt gestaltas i prototypen. Resultatet visade hur Slow Design kunde appliceras i utformning av en nätbutik, samt hur en implementering av de olika principerna kan bidra till en mer reflekterande, medveten och meningsfull mathandel. Därför dras slutsatsen, att arbetet på en mer övergripande nivå tydligt visar hur Slow Design kan appliceras i utvecklingen av digitala artefakter, och hur en tillämpning av principerna kan leda till fler möjligheter för användare att reflektera under användningen av digitala artefakter. / This paper reports on an exploration of how to apply Slow Design and its principles (reveal, expand, reflect, engage, participate, evolve and ritual) to digital artifacts. Unlike a more traditional focus on efficient interactions, the intention behind Slow Design is to promote meaningful interactions by supporting moments of reflection. However, previous research has primarily focused on applying the philosophy to physical artifacts or products. With this in mind, the following research question was defined: How can principles for Slow Design be applied in developing digital artifacts to encourage reflection in users? The primary research strategy used was design science, focusing on design and demonstration. The problem explication and a part of the requirement definition were based on a previous project by the same authors, in which a virtual grocery store was developed based on data gathered through an empirical study of slowness regarding grocery shopping. The main findings of the empirical study are reported on and further operationalized in this study to define the requirements for an artifact. The requirement definition was expanded further by translating the current principles for Slow Design to make them more applicable to digital design. Design concepts were subsequently developed as part of the design and development phase, in which interweaving requirements and principles for Slow Design resulted in multiple ideas. Three users then validated the ideas, resulting in a selection of ideas to be used in early sketches of the online store. Based on these sketches, a prototype was developed with functionality that, in different ways, embodied a total of six (out of seven) principles for Slow Design. A demonstration of the prototype was then conducted, in which six participants were instructed to perform a set of tasks with both the prototype and an already established online store. For this purpose, a small-scale survey was conducted in which observations and semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather data that could highlight differences in the experiences of using both artifacts. A thematic analysis was then conducted to identify overarching patterns in the data, resulting in three themes highlighting properties of the prototype that could influence or limit reflective use: transparency, form, and temporality. The authors then assessed that five (out of six) principles for Slow Design had been successfully embodied in the prototype. The result showed how Slow Design could be applied in the design of an online grocery store and how implementing the principles could contribute to a more reflecting, conscious, and meaningful grocery shopping experience. Therefore, the study on a higher level clearly shows how Slow Design can be applied in the design of digital artifacts, and how applying the principles can lead to more opportunities for users to reflect during their interactions with digital artifacts.

The future of networking lies within the development of low-latency and reliable networks. This development poses increased demand on the presence of edge-nodes. For a network operator to provide a low-latency edge-node resource, the physical distance from antenna-to-user needs to be small. This in turn, requires the network operator to have wide coverage of their physical antennas. An alternative solution is for network operators to share their edge-nodes within a so-called Operator Platform (OP) to reduce the cost of expanding their physical presence. In this project Design Science Research (DSR) was used to design an artifact named Master Thesis Orchestrator (MTO), to address the issue of finding and delivering shared edge-node resources between operators. An abstracted model of a realistic scenario was adopted. This model was used in evaluating the performance of the design against a baseline solution. The MTO is a decentralised algorithm using a shared memory cache. The artifact also has a randomised component which is used to control the frequency of shared memory accesses. These design choices were chosen to improve the performance in terms of scalability. A simulation of the artifact and baseline was conducted using a testbed implemented with Kubernetes/minikube. By assessing the performance on different input sizes (number of edge-nodes), the following performance metrics was gathered: success-rate (accuracy), run-time, and amount of data transmitted. The results showed that the MTO produced an average accuracy of 36% (baseline=96.8%) in terms of successful/failed user requests. The performance regarding run-time and transmitted data, varied depending on the outcome of the request. The MTO’s worst-case performance occurs for failed matches, leading to performance akin to that of the baseline’s average performance. The best-case performance of the MTO showed improvements of run-time compared to the baseline solution. The data was validated through an Analysis of variance (ANOVA)-test and the distributions are significantly (α = 5%) different from each other. The designed artifact is however not better than the baseline solution on all analysed metrics. The designed algorithm is volatile in-terms of time-needed and accuracy, but resource efficient. The poor accuracy is a significant factor into the probability that the worst-case performance would occur resulting in a slow and unreliable solution. Nevertheless, in terms of scalability, the designed artifact is showing less severe growth-rate than that of the baseline. / Framtiden för nätverk ligger i utvecklingen av tillförlitliga nätverk med låg latenstid. Denna utveckling ställer ökade krav på förekomsten av så kallade kantnoder. För att en nätoperatör ska kunna tillhandahålla en kantnodsresurs med låg latenstid måste det fysiska avståndet från antenn till användare vara litet. Detta kräver i sin tur att nätoperatören bör ha stor täckning av sina fysiska antenner. Ett alternativ till detta är att nätoperatörer delar sina resurser inom en så kallad Operatörsplatform för att minska kostnaderna för utökning av sin fysiska antennärvaro. I det här projektet användes Design Science Research för att utforma en produkt vid namn Master Thesis Orchestrator (MTO) för att lösa problemet med att hitta och leverera kantnodresurser mellan operatörer. En abstrakt modell av ett realistiskt scenario skapades. Denna modell användes för att utvärdera designens prestanda i förhållande till en baslinjelösning. MTO är en decentraliserad algoritm som använder sig av en delad minnescache. Designen har också en slumpmässig komponent som används för att styra åtkomstsfrekvensen till det delade minnet. Dessa designval gjordes för att förbättra skalbarhetsprestandan. En simulering av algoritmen och baslinjelösningen genomfördes med hjälp av en testbädd som implementerades med Kubernetes/minikube. Genom att testa prestandan på olika ingångsstorlekar (antal kantnoder) samlades följande mätetal in: framgångkvot (noggrannhet), körtid och mängden överförd data. Resultaten visade att MTO gav en genomsnittlig noggrannhet på 36% (baslinje=96,8%) gällande lyckade/felaktiga matchningar. Prestandan när det gäller körtid och överförda data varierade beroende på resultatet av matchningar. MTO:s sämsta prestanda uppstår vid misslyckade matchningar, vilket leder till ett resultat som liknar baslinjelösningens genomsnittliga prestanda. MTO:s bästa prestanda visade förbättringar av körtiden jämfört med baslinjelösningen. Testerna validerades genom ett ANOVA-test och algoritmerna skiljer sig signifikant (α = 5%) från varandra. Den utformade produkten är dock inte bättre än den baslinjelösningen för alla analyserade mätvärden. Den utformade algoritmen är volatil när det gäller tidsåtgång och noggrannhet, men resurseffektiv. Den dåliga noggrannheten är en betydande faktor för sannolikheten att den värsta möjliga prestandan skulle inträffa, vilket leder till en långsam och opålitlig lösning. När det gäller skalbarhet uppvisar den utformade produkten dock en mindre allvarlig tillväxttakt än baslinjelösningen.

In an era where use and dependence of information systems is significantly high, the threat of incidents related to information security that could jeopardize the information held by organizations is more and more serious. Alarming facts within the literature point to inadequacies in information security practices, particularly the evaluation of information security controls in organizations. Research efforts have resulted in various methodologies developed to deal with the information security controls assessment problem. A closer look at these traditional methodologies highlights various weaknesses that can prevent an effective information security controls assessment in organizations. This dissertation develops a methodology that addresses such weaknesses when evaluating information security controls in organizations. The methodology, created using the Fuzzy Logic Toolbox of MATLAB based on fuzzy theory and fuzzy logic, uses fuzzy set theory which allows for a more accurate assessment of imprecise criteria than traditional methodologies. It is argued and evidenced that evaluating information security controls using fuzzy set theory addresses existing weaknesses found in the literature for traditional evaluation methodologies and, thus, leads to a more thorough and precise assessment. This, in turn, results in a more effective selection of information security controls and enhanced information security in organizations. The main contribution of this research to the information security literature is the development of a fuzzy set theory-based assessment methodology that provides for a thorough evaluation of ISC in organizations. The methodology just created addresses the weaknesses or limitations identified in existing information security control assessment methodologies, resulting in an enhanced information security in organizations. The methodology can also be implemented in a spreadsheet or software tool, and promote usage in practical scenarios where highly complex methodologies for ISC selection are impractical. Moreover, the methodology fuses multiple evaluation criteria to provide a holistic view of the overall quality of information security controls, and it is easily extended to include additional evaluation criteria factor not considered within this dissertation. This is one of the most meaningful contributions from this dissertation. Finally, the methodology provides a mechanism to evaluate the quality of information security controls in various domains. Overall, the methodology presented in this dissertation proved to be a feasible technique for evaluating information security controls in organizations.

Thesis (PhD) -- Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis has as its focus the engineering of integrated knowledge networks (IKNs) through the use of a reference architecture. The purpose of the study is to gain a deeper understanding of the constructional principles underlying this class of collaborative networks. Although IKNs and enterprise engineering are both seen as promising approaches to the challenges of the Information Age, significant challenges still exist in the engineering of IKNs. Our globalised and commercialised society may currently be characterised by both extreme complexity and extreme rates of change. Enterprise engineering is seen as a promising approach to equip enterprises with the characteristics that are desirable in the modern economy, including flexibility and agility. Enterprise architecture contributes to this endeavour by providing a high-level design of the enterprise that allows for integrated engineering of the enterprise. From a commercial point of view, it has been widely recognised that the ability to innovate and generate new knowledge through the development of new products, services and processes is a key factor in the survival of enterprises. The latest trends in innovation management, however, show that the innovation process is no longer one that is executed inside a single enterprise, giving rise to the development of inter-organisational innovation networks. Furthermore, the importance of knowledge as a dynamic enabler of this networked innovation approach is highlighted. This has lead to the emergence of IKNs in which knowledge is created and shared between network stakeholders in order to foster sustainable innovation. The increasing rate of change means that enterprises, including IKNs, have progressively less time to react to market changes and opportunities. The emphasis is therefore on the potential of the EE and EA disciplines as tools to adapt to the dynamic landscape of the Information Age. At present, the ability to apply comprehensive enterprise engineering to IKNs is hampered by the lack of resources that describes sound constructional principles for these networks. The focus of this study is therefore on the application of the enterprise engineering discipline to IKNs through the development of a reference architecture. The reference architecture for IKNs is developed through design science research within a pragmatic and qualitative research strategy. The research problem is first identified and motivated. Various solution objectives are subsequently defined. This is followed by the design and development of the reference architecture through four iterative design cycles. A qualitative systematic review is conducted and serves as the foundation for the development of various reference models. The reference architecture for IKNs is demonstrated and evaluated through a series of illustrative scenarios, after which the utility, novelty and design rigour of the artefact is communicated. It was found that the reference architecture provides constructional principles in the engineering of IKNs, thus enabling the design, operation and research of this class of collaborative networks. The study therefore takes a first step toward extending the concept of EE to IKNs, and collaborative networks in general. This enables the greater adaptability of these networks to the dynamic environment of the Information Age. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek die ontwikkeling van geïntegreerde kennisnetwerke (GK’s) aan die hand van ‘n verwysingsargitektuur. Die doel van die studie is om ’n beter begrip van die onderliggende ontwerpbeginsels van hierdie klas kollaborasie netwerke te kry. Alhoewel beide GK’s en ondernemingsingenieurswese beskou word as belowende benaderings tot die uitdagings van die Inligtingsera, bestaan beduidende uitdagings steeds in die ontwikkeling van GK’s. Ons geglobaliseerde, gekommersialiseerde samelewing word tans gekenmerk deur beide buitengewone kompleksiteit en buitengewone tempo-verandering. Ondernemingsingenieurswese word beskou as ’n belowende benadering om ondernemings toe te rus met die eienskappe wat in aanvraag is in die moderne ekonomie, insluitend aanpasbaarheid en vlugheid. Ondernemingsargitektuur dra by tot hierdie poging deur ’n hoëvlak ontwerp van die onderneming te voorsien wat geïntegreerde ontwikkeling van die onderneming toelaat. Vanuit ’n kommersiële oogpunt word dit ruim aanvaar dat die vermoë om te innoveer en nuwe kennis te ontwikkel deur die ontwikkeling van nuwe produkte, dienste en prosesse ’n kernfaktor in die oorlewing van ondernemings is. Die jongste benadering in innovasiebestuur toon aan dat die innovasieproses nie meer slegs in een onderneming uitgevoer word nie. Dit lei dan tot interorganisasie-innovasienetwerke. Die belangrikheid van kennis as ’n dinamiese instaatsteller van hierdie netwerk-innovasiebenadering word verder beklemtoon. Dit het gelei tot die ontstaan van GK’s waarin kennis tot stand gebring en gedeel word tussen netwerk belanghebbendes om sodoende volhoubare innovasie te bevorder. Die toenemende tempo in verandering beteken dat ondernemings, insluitende GK’s, toenemend minder tyd het om op markveranderings en -geleenthede te reageer. Die klem val daarom op die ondernemingsingenieursweseen ondernemingsargitektuur-dissiplines as hulpmiddels om by die dinamiese landskap van die Inligtingsera aan te pas. Tans word die vermoë om omvattende ondernemingsingenieurswese in GK’s te beoefen, gekniehalter deur die tekort aan hulpbronne wat grondige konstruksie-beginsels vir hierdie netwerke beskryf. Die fokus van hierdie studie is daarom die toepassing van die ondernemingsingenieurswese-dissipline op GK’s deur die ontwikkeling van ’n verwysingsargitektuur. Die verwysingsargitektuur vir GK’s word ontwikkel deur ontwerpwetenskapnavorsing binne ’n pragmatiese en kwalitatiewe navorsingstrategie. Die navorsingsprobleem word eers geïdentifiseer en gemotiveer. Verskeie oplossingsdoelwitte word vervolgens bepaal. Hierna geskied die ontwerp en ontwikkeling van die verwysingsargitektuur deur middel van die vier herhalende ontwerpsiklusse. Die verwysingsargitektuur vir GK’s word gedemonstreer en geëvalueer deur ’n reeks beeldende scenario’s, waarna die bruikbaarheid, nuutheid en ontwerpstrengheid van die artefak gekommunikeer word. Dit is bevind dat die verwysingsargitektuur konstruksiebeginsels in die ontwikkeling van GK’s voorsien en sodoende die ontwerp, werk en navorsing in hierdie klas kollaborasie netwerke moontlik maak. Dié studie neem ‘n eerste tree in die rigting om die konsep van ondernemingsingenieurswese tot GK’s uit te brei. Dit maak die groter aanpasbaarheid van hierdie netwerke by die dinamiese omgewing van die Inligtingsera moontlik.

The development of large, software-intensive systems is a complex undertaking that is generally tackled by a divide and conquer strategy. Organizations face thereby the challenge of coordinating the resources which enable the individual aspects of software development, commonly solved by adopting a particular process model. The alignment between requirements engineering (RE) and software testing (ST) activities is of particular interest as those two aspects are intrinsically connected: requirements are an expression of user/customer needs while testing increases the likelihood that those needs are actually satisfied. The work in this thesis is driven by empirical problem identification, analysis and solution development towards two main objectives. The first is to develop an understanding of RE and ST alignment challenges and characteristics. Building this foundation is a necessary step that facilitates the second objective, the development of solutions relevant and scalable to industry practice that improve REST alignment. The research methods employed to work towards these objectives are primarily empirical. Case study research is used to elicit data from practitioners while technical action research and field experiments are conducted to validate the developed  solutions in practice. This thesis contains four main contributions: (1) An in-depth study on REST alignment challenges and practices encountered in industry. (2) A conceptual framework in the form of a taxonomy providing constructs that further our understanding of REST alignment. The taxonomy is operationalized in an assessment framework, REST-bench (3), that was designed to be lightweight and can be applied as a postmortem in closing development projects. (4) An extensive investigation into the potential of information retrieval techniques to improve test coverage, a common REST alignment challenge, resulting in a solution prototype, risk-based testing supported by topic models (RiTTM). REST-bench has been validated in five cases and has shown to be efficient and effective in identifying improvement opportunities in the coordination of RE and ST. Most of the concepts operationalized from the REST taxonomy were found to be useful, validating the conceptual framework. RiTTM, on the other hand, was validated in a single case experiment where it has shown great potential, in particular by identifying test cases that were originally overlooked by expert test engineers, improving effectively test coverage.

Structured data stores have been the dominating technologies for the past few decades. Although dominating, structured data stores lack the functionality to handle the ‘Big Data’ phenomenon. A new technology has recently emerged which stores unstructured data and can handle the ‘Big Data’ phenomenon. This study describes the development of an artefact to aid in the analysis of NoSQL document data stores in terms of relational database model constructs. Design science research (DSR) is the methodology implemented in the study and it is used to assist in the understanding, design and development of the problem, artefact and solution. This study explores the existing literature on DSR, in addition to structured and unstructured data stores. The literature review formulates the descriptive and prescriptive knowledge used in the development of the artefact. The artefact is developed using a series of six activities derived from two DSR approaches. The problem domain is derived from the existing literature and a real application environment (RAE). The reviewed literature provided a general problem statement. A representative from NFM (the RAE) is interviewed for a situation analysis providing a specific problem statement. An objective is formulated for the development of the artefact and suggestions are made to address the problem domain, assisting the artefact’s objective. The artefact is designed and developed using the descriptive knowledge of structured and unstructured data stores, combined with prescriptive knowledge of algorithms, pseudo code, continuous design and object-oriented design. The artefact evolves through multiple design cycles into a final product that analyses document data stores in terms of relational database model constructs. The artefact is evaluated for acceptability and utility. This provides credibility and rigour to the research in the DSR paradigm. Acceptability is demonstrated through simulation and the utility is evaluated using a real application environment (RAE). A representative from NFM is interviewed for the evaluation of the artefact. Finally, the study is communicated by describing its findings, summarising the artefact and looking into future possibilities for research and application. / MSc (Computer Science), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014