Developments such as the ubiquity of electronic networks and the breadth of digital platforms beyond simple forums have lead to major economic and social transformations worldwide (Agarwal et al, 2008). This research will explore developments in the area of social networking using Internet technology in order to determine factors that lead to success. Despite considerable growth among the number of online communities available, very few are successful at retaining members and continued usage by its members (Ma & Agarwal, 2007). The purpose of this dissertation is to determine factors leading to a successful social networking site (SNS). Through the unification of the IS success model and social capital theory, a new model is develop called the SNS success model. The result of this study support eight hypotheses with one hypothesis unsupported. It was shown that content quality, system quality, and trust positively affect social capital and user satisfaction. User satisfaction positively affects continued use intention. Social capital was shown to support user satisfaction but the relationship with continued use intention was non-significant. Further investigation demonstrated that the relationship between social capital and continued use intention was fully mediated by user satisfaction. This study contributes to knowledge by developing a model displaying success factors for SNS success. Further, it demonstrates the relationship between social capital and continued use intention through the mediation of user satisfaction. This study serves as a foundation of research in the emerging area of SNSs. It also has practical implications for practitioners to help SNS administrators understand factors that influence usage. Recommendations for future research and practical implications for SNS administrators are also discussed.

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This thesis explores the ideological foundations of three jihadist organizations, Hizbullah, al-Qaeda, and Islamic State (IS). All three are categorized as international terrorist organizations but their goals differ. Hizbullah seeks to alter the government within Lebanon, al-Qaeda seeks to eliminate Western influences in Muslim inhabited territories, and IS seeks to create a caliphate within a large portion of the Middle East. The similarities and differences of these three organizations will be illuminated through this examination. The primary focus of the examination focuses on their religious teachings and discourse, as this is a critical aspect of their ideologies. Through this examination, the differences in discourse coinciding with the differing goals of each organization is presented. The discourse of each organization facilitates their goals, recruitment of fighters, and explanation of their actions. Self/other identification is a commonality of all three ideologies but the identification of the other is different according to each organizations goals. This thesis will highlight this aspect and allow for further discussion of the three organizations in future research. The conclusion will allow for discussion as to who gains and maintains power and whether religion is a base or merely a tool for this power. / Master of Arts / This thesis examines the ideological foundations of three jihadist organizations. The jihadist organizations examined are Hizbullah, al-Qaeda, and ISIS. The ideological foundations are examined by identifying the influences and leaders of the organizations and their contributions to their organizations. The purpose of this examination is to provide the reader with a base understanding of three organizations ideological foundations. This thesis will discuss the varying use of self/other identification by each of the organizations and how it is altered to fit the goals of each group. Understanding how the goals and self/other discourse are related will allow for better understanding of how recruitment is conducted and how each group continues to exist while being battled by more advanced technology and trained militaries.

Yes / Companies in the high technology manufacturing and development sector have to continually innovate in order to survive and grow in increasingly turbulent and competitive markets. It is common practice for the parent company to spin off separate business units that can incubate and capitalise on the development of new technological innovations in order to grow and create new markets. This case study illustrates the issues that arise when a separate “maverick” business unit focusing on developing a new and disruptive innovation is spun off from the parent company. It underlines the problems that arise when ICT systems and operational processes are not strategically aligned and imposed by the parent company. It also demonstrates how innovative business units can harness their unique talents and apply them to solving operational problems. By developing a new bespoke system aligned with the maverick unit’s emergent processes, the maverick business unit was pulled back from the brink of disaster to a successful and profitable business unit.

Yes / Public sector managers take much of the responsibility for selecting, commissioning, implementing and realising benefits from information technology (IT) projects. However, e-Government initiatives often suffer from complexity, vision failure, lack of goal clarity and insufficient commitment. These problems may stem from value traditions that are deeply ingrained in managers’ cultural environments but not always in harmony with each other. A first step towards working with value complexity is to understand it; we synthesise a model of value positions for e-Government derived from major traditions in the public administration literature. Four value positions relevant to e-Government together with their IT assumptions are identified; they reflect the ideals of professionalism, efficiency, service and engagement. A qualitative investigation of Danish local authority managers displays both value congruence and value divergence. The interpretive study results in a theoretical model that combines value positions and relationships, and the model’s implications for researchers and practitioners in focusing successful e-Government initiatives are outlined.

Yes / Citizens’ satisfaction is acknowledged as one of the most significant influences for e-government adoption and diffusion. This study examines the impact of information quality, system quality, trust, and cost on user satisfaction of e-government services. Using a survey, this study collected 1518 valid responses from e-government service adopters across the United Kingdom. Our empirical outcomes show the five factors identified in this study have a significant impact on U.K. citizens’ satisfaction with e-government services.

Yes / Mobile banking is one of the most promising technologies that has emerged in recent years and could prove to have considerable value to both banks and customers. Thus, this study recognises the need to test the main factors that could predict the use of mobile banking as well as how using such a system could contribute to both customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The conceptual model of this study combines two models (i.e. UTAUT2 and the D&M IS Success Model). A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect the required data from convenience sampling of Saudi bank customers. The main factors – performance expectancy, price value, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, habit, system quality and service quality – were found to have a significant impact on actual use behaviour. This study was cross-sectional, therefore future studies should implement longitudinal studies in order to re-collect the findings. Further, this study adopted convenience sampling of Saudi M-Banking users. This may adversely impact the issue of generalisability to the whole population. The gap in the M-Banking literature in Saudi Arabia would be bridged by proposing a comprehensive conceptual model that scrupulously clarifies the use of M-Banking from the perspective of Saudi users. Furthermore, this study would consider the adoption of numeric data in order to inferentially analyse them using SEM. This in turn would assist in generalising the findings to the whole Saudi population.

Yes / This research critically analyzes the Interpretive Ranking Process (IRP) using an illustrative empirically derived IS project failure related case study to articulate a deeper understanding of the method. The findings emphasize the suitability of the method for a number of practical applications, but also highlight the limitations for larger matrix sized problems. The IRP process to derive the dominance between IS project failure factors is judged to be methodical and systematic, enabling the development of clear dominating interactions.

This study addresses the antecedents of individuals' disposition to use telemedicine applications, as well as the antecedents of their usage to provide insight into creating sustained usage over time. The theoretical framework of this research is Bhattacherjee's expectation-confirmation IS continuance model. By combining a series of key factors which may influence the initial and continued usage of telemedicine applications with key constructs of Bhattacherjee's IS continuance model, this study aims to provide a deeper understanding of barriers to telemedicine app usage and how to facilitate continued use of these apps. Online survey data was collected from college students who are telemedicine application users. A total of 313 responses were gathered, and data analysis was conducted using SmartPLS 3. This dissertation contributes by looking at the IS adoption and IS continuance research simultaneously to connect these two research streams as well as suggesting the usage context of some established IS theory being different with regard to healthcare applications.