Magister Commercii - MCom / The research focuses on the acceptance of new technologies within the telecommunications industry. The study examines three models namely Innovation theory, Theory of Reason Action (TRA), and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). This study explores the technology acceptance models in order to explain why certain monitoring officers at ICASA would prefer specific technologies over others. Models of interest could be the innovation theory, TRA and TAM. After reviewing both models, the author will examine the TAM in detail as a model of interest in this study. In turn, this model is expected to assist us to understand why monitoring officer's at ICASA would prefer a particular frequency monitoring technology over the other. / South Africa

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / This research work investigates and reports on the contribution of usability and perceptual frameworks towards understanding and ultimately increasing usage of a sales website and a corporate marketing website for a major insurance company in South Africa. It investigates whether the application of usability principles to the sales web positively influences the usage of the sales web system as a tool by intermediaries, and in so doing help the organisation recoup their investment and lower operational costs. This financial services (traditionally insurance) company, like many organisations, is in the process of migrating key operational systems onto web platforms to take advantage of benefits such as the ubiquity of web access and services orientated architecture among others. The research reviewed key frameworks in the area of technology acceptance or usage namely Nielsen‟s usability attributes (Nielsen, 2003). The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), (Davis, 1989). The Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). The Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1985); and derived a theoretical summative model (the Conceptual Research Model) that combined both usability and perceptual dimensions. The applicability of this summative model was empirically tested using quantitative data relating to system usage and user perception. Empirical evidence was gathered to prove and refine the Conceptual Research Model (CRM), and the data substantiated the inclusion of the constructs in the CRM, as well as the efficacy of the model in a financial services organisation. Through testing of the CRM, this research has also confirmed which specific attributes of usability can be focussed on to bring about positive change in users' usage behaviour and adoption of a website or web application. / South Africa

The purpose of this thesis is to clarify the reasons and consequences of failed implementations and poor adoption of CRM / SFA tools in sales teams, that have been recorded in recent years. Almost 70% of initiatives to introduce new technologies for sales teams have failed in the return on investments. The goal of the thesis is to create requirements for a new CRM / SFA, which will support salesmen and sales teams in a better way. It describes the way the sales team work, it describes business cases and determinates its key activities. Using perceived usefulness, I create a set of system requirements for CRM / SFA tool, which will support salesmen and improve their sales performance.

The main purpose of the study was to analyze whether age, gender and integrity affect the acceptance of self-driving cars. The theoretical framework TAM (Technology AcceptanceModel) is used as a starting point for acceptance where we set our variables against Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use that are the main variables in the model. A quantitative method has been applied and a survey was used for data collection. The survey was sent to 140 students. The response rate was 82 % involving a total of 116 respondents, of which 60 were women and 53 were men, where age ranged between 18-60 years old. The results of a T-test showed that there was a correlation between gender and acceptance of self-driving cars. The remaining variables could not be linked to acceptance in our study. The conclusion that we could make from this study was that there was a correlation between gender and acceptance of self-driving cars based on the cognitive mindset that is separated between the sexes. / Det huvudsakliga syftet med studien var att analysera ifall ålder, kön och integritet påverkar acceptans av självkörande bilar. Det teoretiska ramverket TAM (Technology AcceptanceModel) används som utgångspunkt för acceptans där vi ställde våra variabler gentemot den Uppfattade Användbarheten och den Uppfattade Användarvänligheten som är huvudvariableri modellen. En kvantitativ metod har använts och där ett frågeformulär skickades till 140 studenter. Svarsfrekvensen låg på 82% där totalt 116 respondenter, varav 60 kvinnor och 53 män i åldrarna mellan 18–60. Resultatet från ett T-test visade att det fanns samband mellan kön och acceptans av självkörande bilar. Resterande variabler kunde inte kopplas till acceptans i studien. Slutsatsen vi kunde dra utifrån denna studie var att det fanns ett samband mellan kön och acceptans av självkörande bilar, baserat på det kognitiva tankesättet som skiljs åt mellan könen.

With Virtual Reality (VR),   education can be made possible for people who work in hazardous situations or   in dangerous environments and that otherwise are difficult or impossible to   recreate. The problem is that the use of VR at the present time only seems to   have been studied in conjunction with training of hazardous situations within   physical work operations. As threats and violence in many workplaces   increases, staff also need to be trained to be able to handle and respond to   threatening and violent situations. The purpose of the study is to evaluate   the use of VR in conjunction with training of managing threats and violence   in the workplace through stress-reducing treatment, in order to elucidate   which factors are important to the users. Based on the Technology Acceptance   Model, the knowledge of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use is   used to investigate which factors are important. By doing a case study,   users' experiences were captured through observations, recording and interviews.     The result showed that   individual differences in the habit of using the technology affect the   perception of perceived usefulness. For the system properties, factors   related to communication, interaction, realism, scenario and individual   settings were most important to the perceived usefulness. Since the training   simulator was still under development, the study could only give an   indication of the influence of social influence and what kind of the facilitating conditions that would   be needed. The conclusion is that communication is the most important factor   for the perceived usefulness and that education and experience of using VR   are most important for the perceived ease of use for stress-reducing training using VR. / Med Virtual Reality   (VR) kan utbildning möjliggöras för personer som arbetar med riskfyllda   situationer eller i farliga miljöer och som annars är svåra eller omöjliga   att återskapa. Problemet är att användandet av VR för närvarande endast verkar ha   studerats i samband med träning av riskfyllda situationer inom de fysiska   arbetsmomenten. I och med att hot och våld på många arbetsplatser ökar   behöver personal även tränas för att kunna hantera och bemöta hotfulla och   våldsamma situationer. Syftet med studien är att utvärdera användningen av VR   i samband med träning av att hantera hot och våld på arbetsplatsen genom   stressreducerande bemötande, för att belysa vilka faktorer som är viktiga för   användarna. Utifrån Technology Acceptance Model används kunskapen om användbarhet   och användarvänlighet för att undersöka vilka faktorer som är viktiga. Genom att göra en fallstudie fångades användarnas upplevelser genom   observationer, inspelning och intervjuer.      Resultatet visade att individuella skillnader vad   gäller vanan av att använda tekniken påverkar uppfattningen av uppfattad   användarvänlighet. För systemegenskaperna var det faktorer som rör   kommunikation, interaktion, realism, scenario och individuella inställningar   som var viktigast för den upplevda användbarheten. Då träningssimulatorn   fortfarande var under utveckling kunde studien endast ge en indikation om det   sociala inflytandets påverkan samt vad för underlättande förhållanden  som skulle behövas. Slutsatsen är att kommunikation   är den viktigaste faktorn för den upplevda användbarheten samt att utbildning   och erfarenhet av att använda VR är viktigast för den upplevda   användarvänligheten för stressreducerande träning med VR.

Till följd av Covid-19 pandemin som bröt ut fick Malmö Universitet i mars 2020 förflytta merparten av utbildningar till att genomföras digitalt över Zoom. Universitetet, lärarna och studenterna var snabbt tvungna att anpassa sig till den nya situationen utan vidare förberedelser. Zoom blev snabbt det videokonferensverktyg som flera universitet kom att använda sig av vid övergången till digitala studier, vilket även Malmö universitet valde att använda sig av. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om studenterna på Teknik och Samhälle upplevde att deras motivation och engagemang påverkats sedan den digitala övergången. Detta utforskades genom frågeställningen: ”Hur påverkar Zoom studenters motivation och engagemang vid digital undervisning?”. Studien undersökte huruvida det fanns en koppling mellan hur studenterna upplevde Zooms användarvänlighet och användbarhet, deras studiemotivation samt engagemang i form av deltagande. Metoderna som användes för studien var observationer samt en enkätundersökning.   Slutsatserna av studien var att studenterna ansåg att Zoom var användarvänligt men inte lika användbart och att studenternas motivation och engagemang hade påverkats negativt. Slutligen indikerade även slutsatsen på att studiemotivation hade ett samband med användarvänlighet, användbarhet och engagemang. Men engagemang hade dock endast ett samband med motivation och användarvänlighet. / As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic Malmö University had to transfer most of their educations to be carried out digitally in March 2020. The university, teachers and students were quickly forced to adapt to the new situation without further preparation. Zoom quickly became the video conferencing tool that several universities came to use in the transition to digital studies, which Malmö University also chose to use. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the students at the faculty of Technology and Society felt that their motivation and engagement had been affected since the digital transition. This was explored through the research question: “How is the motivation and engagement of students affected when attending lectures through the digital tool Zoom?”. The study examined how students experienced Zoom's perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, their study motivation and finally their engagement in the form of participation. The methods used in the study were observations and a questionnaire survey. The conclusions of the study were that the students felt that Zoom was easy to use, but not as useful and that the students' motivation and engagement had been negatively affected. Finally, the conclusion also indicated that study motivation had a correlation with perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and engagement. But engagement only had a correlation with perceived ease of use and motivation.

Writing, an important academic skill for university students to acquire, becomes more important in a distance education institution where assessment is primarily on written work. Successful teaching and learning practices for Open Distance Learning (ODL) incorporate multiple forms of interaction when using technology within a constructivist approach. The study seeks to understand students’ perceptions of wikis within a process writing approach, and the suitability of Web 2.0 technology for tasks designed to teach academic writing. A participatory action research design was selected as it merges social action and research to solve educational problems while increasing human understanding of the phenomena. The findings show that students may be open to using wikis within their actual learning environment. Of significance was the issue of the early integration and engagement of students into online learning communities. The challenges experienced in the study can be addressed adapting Chickering and Ehrmann’s (1996) principles to frame the development of online learning. / Teaching Practice Unit / M.A. (TESOL)

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are complex software packages that support an integrated real-time setting among the various business functions in an entire organization. ERP systems improve productivity, but only to the extent that employees accept and use the systems extensively to perform their duties. The leaders of many organizations have not been able to realize the expected benefits because of a lack of user acceptance. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional survey study was to examine the factors that influence user acceptance of ERP systems in the United States. Davis's technology acceptance model was the theoretical foundation used to relate the independent variables (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) to the dependent variable (user acceptance of ERP systems). The focus of the research questions was on the strength of the relationships between each of the independent variables and user acceptance of ERP systems in the United States. Data were from 97 purposively selected ERP system end users in the United States using the survey instrument based on the technology acceptance model. Regression and correlation analyses revealed a positive relationship between perceived usefulness and user acceptance, but no relationship was found between perceived ease of use and user acceptance. The findings indicated difficulties in using ERP systems for end users in the United States, which stakeholders could rectify to improve productivity in organizations. Positive social change implications include improving the standard of living, increasing the literacy rate, and reducing negative externalities to improve human and social conditions in society.

Research Question: Which are the decisive factors that impact the adoption of business intelligence systems (BIS) among IT SMEs in Sweden? Purpose: This paper aims to examine Swedish SMEs and understand which decisive factors have an impact on the decision makers and their adoption of BIS. This study aims to study SMEs that have already adopted BIS. Method: A deductive qualitative approach was used to answer the study’s research question. The primary data was conducted through seven semi-structured interviews with Swedish IT SMEs. Empirical Findings: The empirical findings highlight that some factors had a greater influence on the adoption of BIS than others. These were possession of the right type of data, support of top management and service provider support. Conclusion: The presented study identified that small and medium sized enterprises are prone to BIS adoption when considering three decisive factors. First, the importance of possessing data and having the right type of data was a critical need and a factor for BIS adoption. Second, the use of service provider support for SMEs seemed to contribute with important value according to the findings. Third, working proactively with change management affected the perceived usefulness of technology and led to a higher chance of small and medium sized adopting BIS. / Frågeställning: Vilka är de avgörande faktorerna som påverkar antagande av business intelligence-system bland små och medelstora (SME) IT företag i Sverige? Syfte: Den här uppsatsen syftar på att undersöka svenska små och medelstora företag (SME) och förstå vilka faktorer som påverkar beslutsfattare och deras antagande av BIS. Uppsatsen syftar till att studera SME som redan har antagit BIS. Tillvägagångssätt: Denna studie använde en deduktiv kvalitativ metod för att besvara forskningsfrågan. Den primära datan samlades in genom sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med svenska SME inom IT-branschen. Bidrag: Resultaten visar att vissa faktorer hade ett större inflytande på antagande av BIS än andra. Dessa var innehav av rätt typ av data, stöd från högsta ledningen samt support från tjänsteleverantörer. Slutsats: Den presenterade studien identifierade att svenska SME är benägna att anta BIS när man överväger tre avgörande faktorer. För det första var vikten av att ha data och ha rätt typ av data ett kritiskt behov och en faktor för BIS antagande. För det andra verkade användningen av tjänsteleverantör stöd för små och medelstora företag bidra med ett viktigt värde enligt resultaten. För det tredje, att arbeta proaktivt med förändringsledning påverkade den upplevda användbarheten av teknik och ledde till en högre chans för SME att antagande BIS.

I takt med en ökad digitalisering har det blivit ett allt större fokus på IT-säkerhet. Det finns olika typer av lösningar för att stärka IT-säkerheten och att implementera multifaktorautentisering är en av dem. I organisationers säkerhetsarbete spelar användarna en viktig roll, samtidigt kan de betraktas som ett säkerhetshot snarare än en resurs. I den här intervjustudien undersöker vi hur en implementering av multifaktorautentisering påverkar användarnas digitala arbetsmiljö. För att förstå detta har studien använt en kvalitativ datainsamlingsmetod där tio semistrukturerade intervjuer med anställda från Malmö universitet har genomförts. I analysen av resultatet har bland annat Technology Acceptance Model, Protection Motivation Theory samt ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv använts som teoretiska utgångspunkter. Studien visar att det finns en oförutsägbarhet med multifaktorautentisering som skapar en kognitiv omställning och ett hinder i arbetsflödet. Det framgår även att användarnas medvetenhet om IT-säkerhet är en viktig faktor i acceptansen av säkerhetsåtgärder så som multifaktorautentisering. Studien lyfter fram att det krävs en bra användarupplevelse bland befintliga IT-system för att välkomna och anpassa sig till framtida implementeringar av säkerhetssystem. / As digitalization has increased, there has been a growing focus on IT security. There are various types of solutions to strengthen IT security, and implementing multi-factor authentication is one of them. In the security efforts of organizations, users play an important role, but they can also be seen as a security threat rather than a resource. In this interview study, we examine how the implementation of multi-factor authentication affects users' digital work environment. To understand this, the study used a qualitative data collection method, conducting ten semi-structured interviews with employees from Malmö university. In the analysis of the results, the study utilized theoretical frameworks such as the Technology Acceptance Model, Protection Motivation Theory, and a phenomenological perspective. The study reveals that there is unpredictability associated with multi-factor authentication, creating a cognitive adjustment and a hindrance in workflow. It is also evident that users' awareness of IT security is an important factor in accepting security measures such as multi-factor authentication. The study emphasizes the need for a good user experience in existing IT systems to welcome and adapt to future implementations of security systems.