This study was conducted to look into state-owned ICT institutions. The emphasis was on devising a strategic management framework that would be robust and agile, thereby enabling government companies within the ICT sector to rapidly respond to changes in the market and to also enable them to forecast and plan for the future in respect of technology. The main objective of the study was to derive an ICT strategic management framework for the rapid technological evolution of state-owned companies. Further, the study aimed to provide a critical exposition of the factors that affect company ICT strategies; assess the impact of technological changes on company ICT strategies; and propose guidelines on keeping companies‘ ICT strategies responsive to rapid technological changes. Through the literature review as well as an empirical study, common variables and factors that affect a company‘s ICT strategy and its response to technology changes were explored and guidelines were compiled into a framework that will assist SOEs (state-owned enterprises). Through a literature study of available material on the world‘s telecommunication trends and developments in developed nations, some key observations were recorded such as the concept of convergence, which in the main is driven by consumers‘ need for mobility and flexibility, as well as applications with high capacity demands on the one hand and the need for companies and telecommunications operators to be more efficient on the other. Convergence delivers this benefit of efficiency within the market and stimulates competition. Innovation and creativity continue to be the driving force behind the technological evolutions in the ICT sector. The study also considered how both the PEST model and Porter‘s five forces affect these companies. Issues such as the legislative and policy framework of the ICT industry in South Africa were looked at, with emphasis on how they affect ICT parastatals. The study ended with key recommendations and guidelines summed up into a comprehensive framework. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This study was conducted to look into state-owned ICT institutions. The emphasis was on devising a strategic management framework that would be robust and agile, thereby enabling government companies within the ICT sector to rapidly respond to changes in the market and to also enable them to forecast and plan for the future in respect of technology. The main objective of the study was to derive an ICT strategic management framework for the rapid technological evolution of state-owned companies. Further, the study aimed to provide a critical exposition of the factors that affect company ICT strategies; assess the impact of technological changes on company ICT strategies; and propose guidelines on keeping companies‘ ICT strategies responsive to rapid technological changes. Through the literature review as well as an empirical study, common variables and factors that affect a company‘s ICT strategy and its response to technology changes were explored and guidelines were compiled into a framework that will assist SOEs (state-owned enterprises). Through a literature study of available material on the world‘s telecommunication trends and developments in developed nations, some key observations were recorded such as the concept of convergence, which in the main is driven by consumers‘ need for mobility and flexibility, as well as applications with high capacity demands on the one hand and the need for companies and telecommunications operators to be more efficient on the other. Convergence delivers this benefit of efficiency within the market and stimulates competition. Innovation and creativity continue to be the driving force behind the technological evolutions in the ICT sector. The study also considered how both the PEST model and Porter‘s five forces affect these companies. Issues such as the legislative and policy framework of the ICT industry in South Africa were looked at, with emphasis on how they affect ICT parastatals. The study ended with key recommendations and guidelines summed up into a comprehensive framework. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Cloud computing is seen as the new IT paradigm and the biggest development of the decade in computing. The term was commercially formed in 2008 but the technology has been used earlier. Modern enterprises rely greatly on information technology and as it is changing, enterprises need to change with it. The view on ICT-strategy is evolving and becoming more incorporated with business strategy. Cloud computing has grown because of its many benefits, however there are drawbacks which hinders the technology from being widely adopted. This makes strategic decisions on whether to adopt cloud services or not difficult. This thesis provides aspects on drivers and barriers concerning adoption, with connection to ICT-strategy and how they affect medium-sized enterprises. As conditions regarding cloud computing are constantly changing this thesis aims to provide new insight on what drives enterprises to adopt cloud computing, as well as what hinders them. This qualitative study has used semi-structured interviews together with scientific articles and books to reach a conclusion of what enterprises face when constructing a successful ICT-strategy.

Abstract Technological advancement in the field of information-and-communication technologies (ICT) was rapid during the first decade of the new millennium. Universities started to use the new information-and-communication technologies more in their core processes, which speeded up their transformation from the traditional campus mode toward virtual universities. Research done in this thesis first investigates the traditional campus university’s change process toward the virtual university model. During the implementation process a geographically distributed e-learning concept was also developed for university use. This concept was transferred and researched in the small and medium enterprise (SME) context in the last part of this research. In large and complex organizations such as universities, it is difficult to find out how the change really was implemented. The literature on change management is voluminous but is dominated by descriptions of single projects. To overcome the limitations of such case studies, this research applies a longer and wider perspective to the change process and, by the introduction of an overarching method that categorizes the investments, shows more clearly the trends, stages of, and the barriers to the development. This long-term study is based on 116 development projects during a ten-year period in a decentralized and networked development environment. In the company setting, conventional training is being replaced more and more by e-learning. To scaffold SMEs in their e-learning adaptation, the concept of e-learning was transferred to the SME environment. The company cases’ part of the thesis presents how the transferability of geographically distributed e-learning concept was developed and tested in the SME environment. As a result, the principles that guided ICT strategy implementation and how the strategies were implemented during a ten-year period are presented. The concept for geographically distributed e-learning environments and its development are also introduced. Finally, the process and results from the concept implementation to the SME environment are presented. This thesis presents university management with an understanding of how larger long-term trends give us the possibility to better understand today’s fast-paced changes. It also gives company managers an example of how models developed in the university environment can be transferred to the company environment. / Tiivistelmä Tietotekniikan kehitys on ollut nopeaa vuosituhannen vaihteen jälkeen monilla aloilla. Yliopistoissa sitä on alettu käyttää yhä enemmän osana perustoimintoja, mikä on edistänyt niiden kehitystä traditionaalisista kampusyliopistoista kohti virtuaaliyliopistoja. Tämän tutkimuksen ensimmäisessä osassa on tarkasteltu perinteisen kampusyliopiston muutosprosessia kohti aktiivisesti uutta teknologiaa hyödyntävää yliopistoa ja toisessa osassa muutosten yhtenä tuloksena syntynyt konsepti siirrettiin yritysympäristöön. Yliopistossa muutos toteutettiin määrittelemällä ensin tavoitteet strategioiksi ja sen jälkeen niiden toimeenpanoprosessin avulla. Suurissa organisaatioissa, kuten yliopistoissa, on vaikea hahmottaa kuinka muutokset todellisuudessa toteutetaan. Kirjallisuutta ja tutkimusta organisaatiomuutoksen toteuttamisesta on paljon, mutta suuri osa siitä keskittyy tarkastelemaan yhden projektin aikana tapahtunutta muutosta. Tässä tutkimuksessa on pyritty esittämään laajempi ja pitkäkestoisempi kuva muutosprosessista. Tutkimus pohjautuu 116 kehitysprojektin saamaan rahoitukseen kymmenen vuoden ajalta. Sen avulla on tarkasteltu yliopiston kehitystrendejä ja keskeisiä kehityskohteita. Rahoitus on jaettu projekteille strategioissa määriteltyjen tavoitteiden mukaisesti strategioiden toimeenpanemiseksi. Osana toimeenpanoprosessia syntyi yliopistokäyttöön maantieteellisesti hajautetun oppimisympäristön konsepti. Yritysympäristössä perinteinen koulutus on korvattu yhä useammin teknologiaa hyödyntävillä koulutuksen muodoilla. Pienillä ja keskisuurilla yrityksillä on kuitenkin varsin rajoitetut resurssit koulutuksessa käytettävien teknologioiden käyttöönottoon ja tehokkaaseen käyttöön. Tämän tutkimuksen toisessa osassa yrityksen maantieteellisesti hajautetun oppimisympäristön käyttöönottoa pyrittiin tukemaan tarjoamalla sen käyttöön valmis yliopistoympäristössä kehitetty konsepti. Tämän konseptin siirrettävyyttä ja käyttöönottoa tutkittiin tutkimuksen toisessa osassa. Tämän tutkimuksen tuloksena esitetään periaatteet, jotka ohjasivat yliopiston tieto- ja viestintätekniikan opetuskäytön strategian laadintaa ja toimeenpanoa vuosina 2000–2009. Lisäksi esitellään maantieteellisesti hajautetun oppimisympäristön konsepti. Lopuksi esitellään konseptin käyttöönottoa yritysympäristössä. Tämä väitöskirja esittelee yliopiston johdolle ja toimijoille, kuinka pitkäkestoisten trendien tunteminen auttaa ymmärtämään nykyhetkeä ja sen nopeita muutoksia. Yritysjohdolle väitöskirja tarjoaa esimerkin, kuinka yliopistoympäristöön kehitetty konsepti voidaan siirtää yritysympäristöön.

The thesis deals with problems of the IS/ICT innovation strategic management in the surroundings of the Czech Republic and participates in solutions to the three-year research project GA201/08/663 -- Information systems innovation to support competitiveness of enterprises. This project has been realized at the Faculty of Information Science and Statistics at the University of Economics, Prague in support of the Czech Science Foundation since 1st January 2008. Thesis sequence to the project consists in filling of particular priorities defined for 1st year of research. Of course this fact represents determining aspect of thesis main goals definition. Firstly, carry out a research on actual level of information systems in Czech enterprises forcefully into the IS/ICT innovation. Secondly, set up working paper for presentation of continuous outcomes after the introductory phase by appearances at scientific conferences, by articles in scientific papers and by findings'publication at a website of the Czech Society for System Integration. Structure of the thesis, which consists of a theoretical and a practical part, specifies methods of goals'filling. The theoretical part represents introduction to problems -- it covers identification of key elements influencing IS/ICT innovation in surrounding of the modern knowledge economy, IS/ICT innovation classification and detailed statement of IS/ICT innovation management process, which is based on methods of strategic management process in general. The practical part gives attention to questionnaire research -- structure of the questionnaire, research methodology and answer evaluation. Contribution of the thesis, together with filling of particular goals of the research project GA201/08/663 -- Information systems innovation to support competitiveness of enterprises, consists in multidimensional view of the specific problems. IS/ICT innovation is seen not only from an enterprise informatics point of view, but also from an entire enterprise angle when economic aspect is also taken into account. This approach accents support task of informatics -- the IS/ICT contribute to the filling of enterprise's goals.

Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή πραγματεύεται το θέμα της επιχειρησιακής στρατηγικής των Τεχνολογιών Πληροφορικής και Επικοινωνιών (ΤΠΕ) στις Μικρομεσαίες Επιχειρήσεις (ΜΜΕ), καθώς επίσης και τον τρόπο με τον οποίο οι ΤΠΕ επηρεάζουν στην πραγματικότητα την ανάπτυξη και την ανταγωνιστικότητα των ΜΜΕ. Ο λόγος που στρέψαμε το ερευνητικό ενδιαφέρον μας στις ΜΜΕ έγκειται στη κοινή παραδοχή ότι συμβάλλουν αποφασιστικά στην οικονομική ανάπτυξη, την παραγωγή, την ανταγωνιστικότητα, την απασχόληση καθώς επίσης στην αποκέντρωση και την κοινωνική συνοχή. Επίσης, λειτουργούν ως φυτώρια νέων επιχειρήσεων, καινοτόμων ειδών και εφαρμογών, ευέλικτων επιχειρηματικών σχημάτων, εξυπηρέτησης τοπικών αναγκών καθώς και χωροταξικής κατανομής θέσεων απασχόλησης και εισοδήματος. Από την άλλη, η αναγκαιότητα ύπαρξης μιας σύγχρονης τεχνολογικής υποδομής στο επιχειρηματικό περιβάλλον θεωρείται πλέον μία αυτονόητη αξία, καθώς συμβάλλει στην αύξηση της παραγωγικότητας και της ανταγωνιστικότητας μιας επιχείρησης, ενώ, ταυτοχρόνως της παρέχει την απαιτούμενη ευελιξία για να προσαρμόζεται στις ταχέως μεταβαλλόμενες συνθήκες της αγοράς. Για την βιβλιογραφική ανασκόπηση του θέματος βασιστήκαμε σε μεγάλο αριθμό επιστημονικών μελετών καθώς και στη μελέτη σχετικών ερευνών με το αντικείμενο της έρευνάς μας. Η συλλογή των πρωτογενών στοιχείων πραγματοποιήθηκε με τη μέθοδο των προσωπικών συνεντεύξεων και με τη χρήση δομημένου ερωτηματολόγιου στο χώρο εργασίας των ερωτώμενων. Από τις εκατό ΜΜΕ που προσεγγίσαμε, αποκρίθηκαν θετικά για συμμετοχή στην έρευνας μας οι πενήντα τέσσερις (54). Η επιλογή του δείγματος έγινε με τυχαία στρωματοποιημένη δειγματοληψία στους Νομούς Αττικής, Θεσσαλονίκης, Αχαΐας και Ηρακλείου. Η εμπειρική ανάλυση ανέδειξε σημαντικά στατιστικά στοιχεία για την χρήση των ΤΠΕ στις διάφορες κατηγορίες των ΜΜΕ και στους τέσσερις κλάδους οικονομικής δραστηριότητας που έλαβαν μέρος στην έρευνα μας. Επίσης, σημαντικές στατιστικές υποθέσεις ελέγχτηκαν για την εξακρίβωση της σχέσης-εξάρτησης μεταξύ των ΤΠΕ και των διαφορετικών κατηγοριών και των κλάδων των ΜΜΕ. Εν συνεχεία, η ταξινόμηση των ΤΠΕ καθώς και η δημιουργία των νέων οργανωτικών δομών (ΤΠΕ-Οργανωτικές δομές – οργανωτικές δομές που προέκυψαν ανάλογα με το είδος των ΤΠΕ που έχουν υιοθετηθεί από τις ΜΜΕ) μας έδωσαν την ευκαιρία για περαιτέρω στατιστικούς ελέγχους καθώς και την δυνατότητα δημιουργίας τριών υποδειγμάτων, εκ των οποίων, το πρώτο εξετάζει την πιθανότητα ανάπτυξη των ΜΜΕ μέσω των ΤΠΕ, το δεύτερο υπόδειγμα εξετάζει την επίδραση των ΤΠΕ-οργανωτικών δομών και των κλάδων οικονομικής δραστηριότητας στις επενδύσεις σε ΤΠΕ από τις ΜΜΕ και το τρίτο υπόδειγμα εξετάζει την επίδραση από την ύπαρξη συγκεκριμένης στρατηγικής υιοθέτησης και χρήσης των ΤΠΕ και των νέων ΤΠΕ-οργανωτικών δομών στις επενδύσεις σε ΤΠΕ από τις ΜΜΕ. / The present doctoral thesis deals with the subject of Strategic Management of Technologies of Information technology and Communications (ICT) in Small to medium-sized Enterprises (SME), as well as the way in which the ICT influence actually the growth and the competitiveness of SME. The reason, we turned our inquiring interest in the SME lies in the common admission that small and medium sized enterprises decisively contribute to economic development, production, competitiveness, employment, as well as decentralization and social coherence. They also function as the seedbed of new enterprises, innovative products and applications, flexible business forms, servicing of local needs and a zoning plan for the distribution of employment and income. On the other hand, the existence necessity of a modern technological infrastructure is considered as an obvious value in the enterprising environment, as contributes to the increase of productivity and the competitiveness of enterprise. At the same time, new technological inventions give the necessary flexibility to SME for adapting themselves rapidly to the altering conditions of markets. PhD combines a significant literature review of relevant journal publications with primary data collected from the various SMEs. A joint methodology of fully-structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews was selected as the primary research instrument in order to gain as broad a view as possible of the issues surrounding application of ICT. A total of 100 companies was selected and letters were sent out requesting an interview, while follow-up telephone calls by the researchers negotiated access to each business. Fifty-four SMEs were positive responded. A stratified random sample of SMEs was drawn among a spectrum of SMEs in the Prefectures of Attica, Thessaloniki, Achaia and Heraclion. The empirical analysis brought out important statistical elements in the use of ICT for the various categories of SME in the four sectors of economic activity. Also, important statistical hypotheses were tested for the verification of the relationship-dependence between the ICTs and SMEs. The classification of ICT and the creation of new organizational forms (ICT-organizational forms, which have been come from the type of ICT that have been adopted by the SME) offered us the opportunity for further statistical tests as well as the capability for the creation of three models. The first model examines the probability of small firm’s development through the effective-efficient use of ICT (The potential for development of the SMEs was evaluated through a model of binomial logistic regression). The second model examines the influence of ICT-Organizational Forms and Industry Sectors on ICT-Investments, and, the third model tests the influence of ICT-Organizational Forms & ICT-Strategy (SMEs, which have set up a specific strategy for the adoption and use of ICTs) on ICT-Investments in SME sector. (The influence of ICT-Organizational Forms was evaluated through a model of a two-way Analysis of Variance-ANOVA).

This thesis is about information system assessment in Wistron company. There is assessed for which reason the system is utilized, what the weaknesses of system or implementation are and these are followed by the relevant proposals for improving the problematic areas. The theoretical part deals with information systems in general, process methodologies and company and information systems assessments methodologies. Then followed by project management and information strategies. The practical part proposes new information strategy and implementation of company information system.

Thesis (MPhil (Information Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: We are in the era where Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are increasingly becoming as common as desks and chalkboard in our classrooms. Government, students, parents and the community at large are now expecting ICTs to be integrated in the school curriculum and to be used as tools of instruction.