<p> Many projects fail despite the use of evidence-based project management practices such as Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB), Earned Value Management (EVM) and Risk Management (RM). Although previous researchers have found that integrated project management techniques could be more valuable than the same techniques used by themselves, these findings do not address the benefits of integrated EVM with PMB created from RM-based Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) that could positively influence project results. The success of a project is partly dependent on accurately forecasting the performance of future states of current projects. The focus of this quantitative descriptive study is to improve current project management knowledge by identifying whether the integration of EVM with PMB created from RM-based WBS adds project value in accurately predicting the future performance of current projects. This study was conducted by surveying project leaders who have had some experience in EVM with project management. The results of this research significantly support the belief that integration of EVM with PMB created from RM-based WBS adds value to a project.</p>

<p>Electronic medical records (EMRs) or electronic health records have been in use for years in hospitals around the world as a time-saving system for patient record keeping. Despite its widespread use, some physicians disagree with the assertion that EMRs save time. The purpose of this study was to explore whether any time saved with the use of the EMR system was actually devoted by doctors to patient-care and thereby to improved patient-care efficiency. The conceptual support for this study was predicated employing the task-technology fit theory. Task-technology theorists argue that information technology is likely to have a positive impact in individual performance and production timeliness if its capabilities match the task that the user must perform. The research questions addressed the use of an EMR system as a time-saving device, its impact on the quality of patient-care, and how it has influenced patients? access to healthcare in Nigeria. In this research, a comparative qualitative case study was conducted involving 2 hospitals in Nigeria, one using EMRs and another using paper-based manual entry. A purposeful sample of 12 patients and 12 physicians from each hospital was interviewed. Data were compiled and organized using Nvivo 10 software for content analysis. Categories and recurring themes were identified from the data. The findings revealed that reduced patients? registration processing time gave EMR-using doctors more time with their patients, resulting in better patient care. These experiences were in stark contrast to the experiences of doctors who used paper-based manual entry. This study supports positive social change by informing decision makers that time saved by implementing EMR keeping may encourage doctors to spend more time with their patients, thus improving the general quality of healthcare in Nigeria.

<p>In the past decade, the amount of scientific data collected and generated by scientists has grown dramatically. This growth has intensified an existing problem: in large archives consisting of datasets stored in many files, formats and locations, how can scientists find data relevant to their research interests? We approach this problem in a new way: by adapting Information Retrieval techniques, developed for searching text documents, into the world of (primarily numeric) scientific data. We propose an approach that uses a blend of automated and curated methods to extract metadata from large repositories of scientific data. We then perform searches over this metadata, returning results ranked by similarity to the search criteria. We present a model of this approach, and describe a specific implementation thereof performed at an ocean-observatory data archive and now running in production. Our prototype implements scanners that extract metadata from datasets that contain different kinds of environmental observations, and a search engine with a candidate similarity measure for comparing a set of search terms to the extracted metadata. We evaluate the utility of the prototype by performing two user studies; these studies show that the approach resonates with users, and that our proposed similarity measure performs well when analyzed using standard Information Retrieval evaluation methods. We performed performance tests to explore how continued archive growth will affect our goal of interactive response, developed and applied techniques that mitigate the effects of that growth, and show that the techniques are effective. Lastly, we describe some of the research needed to extend this initial work into a true &ldquo;Google for data&rdquo;. </p>

<p> Compliance with regulations may not automatically produce a secure infrastructure. In the United States energy critical infrastructure sector, compliance with regulatory cyber security standards may not necessarily mean that an entity would be able to withstand a cyber attack on critical assets potentially supporting the reliability of the Bulk Electric System (BES). This qualitative exploratory inquiry study researched technical opinions of cyber security professionals in the energy critical infrastructure industry regarding the effect of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards on the reliability of the BES. NERC entities had been required to be compliant with the standards for several years at the time this study was undertaken. There has been speculation regarding the efficacy of the standards to impact the reliability of the BES. However, there was a lack of scholarly or professional literature confirming assumptions concerning BES reliability. In this study, data was gathered through interviews with individuals who were CIP implementation experts. The purpose of this study was to identify a theme or themes regarding changes in the reliability of the BES as a result of the NERC CIP standards implementation. Interview data from the study generated 9 themes including a theme for the research question indicating that reliability of the BES had improved as a result of the implementation and enforcement of the CIP standards. Some of the more prominent themes included NERC fines having influenced entities in the implementation of the standards; entities have been more concerned about CIP compliance than securing their equipment; and entities have removed equipment from their facilities in order to avoid the requirements, and the associated expense, the standards would demand.</p>

<p> The security of digital information is paramount to the success of private organizations. Violating that security is a multi-billion-dollar criminal business and exploiting these vulnerabilities creates a single point of failure for operations. Thus, understanding the detection, identification, and response to information security incidents is critical to protecting all levels of infrastructure. The lived experiences of current professionals indicate 10 unique themes in regards to how information security incidents are addressed in private organizations. These unique themes led the researcher to offer several conclusions related to the importance of planning, communication, offensive capabilities, and integration with third-party organizations. Information security incident management is accomplished as an escalation process with multiple decision points leading to a restoration of services or security. The source of the incident is not often sought beyond the first external IP address but their purpose and intent are essential to information security incident management. The key lessons learned from professionals include the importance of having a plan, training the plan, and incorporating the human elements of security into information security incident response. Penetration testing as well a knowledge about threat and attack patterns are important to information security incident management for detection, containment, and remediation. External organizations play a major role in the management of information security incidents as fear, incompetence, and jurisdictional issues keep the private sector from working with government, military, and law enforcement organizations. These themes have wide reaching implications for practical application and future research projects.</p>

<p> Social computing networking is fast becoming a part of how project managers interact, communicate, and conduct business with each other. This quantitative, non-experimental, survey research addressed the extent to which social computing networking (SCN) affects workplace engagement and ethical workplace behaviors of project managers within public sector organizations. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-17) and the Workplace Ethics Behavior Survey (WEBS) were used to measure the constructs. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and hypothesis testing using correlational and multiple regression analysis. The study combined social identity theory with empirical findings from business ethics and workplace engagement research. The accessible population was 116 project managers from the public sector in the southeastern regional area of the United States. The results indicated that a significant, positive relationship did exist between social computing networking and workplace engagement. Additionally, there was a significant, positive, relationship between social computing networking and ethical workplace behaviors. Each null hypothesis was significant at a .05 level and rejected in consideration of the alternate hypothesis. The findings provided insight and increased understanding of project manager needs for engagement and helped determined how organizations can respond to such needs. Consequently, Project Management policies on social networking and expected ethical conduct should be understood by all users. Corporate policies on social computing networking should balance the employer's and employee's interests relevant to workplace engagement and ethical behaviors for a more positive, productive, and secure workplace.</p>

<p> Information security is a complex issue, which is very critical for success of modern businesses. It can be implemented with the help of well-tested global standards and best practices. However, it has been studied that the human aspects of information security compliance pose significant challenge to its practitioners. There has been significant interest in the recent past on how human compliance to information security policy can be achieved in an organization. Various models have been proposed by these researchers. However, there are very few models that have tried to link human commitment attributes with information security governance of an organization. The research problem of this study was to identify the security controls and mechanisms to govern information security effectively. The proposed model was based on agency theory and comprises a relationship between human commitment variables (ethics, integrity and trust) with security governance variables (structural, relational and process) referred as systemic variables in the research. The resulting correlation is further related with governance objectives (goal congruence and reducing information asymmetry) to hypothesize an effective information security in an organization. The research model proposed was tested employing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). There were four models tested in this research. The first model (initial measurement model) comprised human variables linked with relational and the systemic variables linked with goal congruence and information asymmetry. This model could not get through the CFA tests. A modified model comprising human and systemic attributes related with goal congruence and information asymmetry, separately, was taken forward to SEM. This model returned low model fitment scores and hence two alternate models were tested. In the first alternative, the human attributes were related with goal congruence and systemic attributes were linked with information asymmetry. In the second alternative, the relationships of the first alternatives were retained and two alternate relationships were introduced - integrity was linked with information asymmetry and structural was linked with goal congruence. Both models are very close to good model fitment scores. However, the second alternative returned better results and hence, was chosen as the final outcome of the research. The model reflects that human attributes and systemic attributes are fairly independent in an effective information security framework, and drive goal congruence and information asymmetry, respectively. However, integrity is an important human commitment for ensuring information asymmetry and the right organizational structure and roles are important for ensuring goal congruence.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MCIS) -- Auckland University of Technology, 2004. / Also held in print (176 leaves, 30 cm.) in Wellesley Theses Collection (T 658.4038011 KOD)

Thesis (MEd) -- Auckland University of Technology, 2006. / Also held in print (178 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm.) in North Shore Campus Theses Collection. (T 004 HIT)