Designing information systems is a complex task. The purpose of this work is to contribute to an improved understanding of the design conditions in order to alleviate the problems that occur due to complexity in the design process. To possibly increase the understanding of the conditions for the design of interactive information systems, this dissertation concerns applying systems approach to the design situation. This is done in order to obtain understanding, but also to be able to identify the consequences and possible benefits of doing so. A literature survey and two extensive interviews have been performed. The material has been analysed, and tentative models of the design situation and its components are presented. These models can be considered general to the design situation and consequences are deduced from them. The result of this work is manifested in the tentative models, which describe the design situation, the designer, the user, the customer and the design. The concepts of complexity and communication have also been thoroughly dealt with.

Det här arbetet vill belysa vilka förväntningar användare (inom vården) har inför ett nytt informationssystem (IS) som ska implementeras och vilka faktorer som kan påverka och förändra dessa. För att lyckas med arbetets föresats genomfördes en semistrukturerad intervju av fyra aktiva sjuksköterskor inom Tibro kommuns hemsjukvård, där i december 2004 ett nytt datorbaserat IS (patientjournal) implementerats. Materialet från intervjuerna spelades in med bandspelare, transkriberades och tolkades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. En granskning av resultatet gav bland annat följande slutsatser: Användare inom vården saknar ofta en formell datautbildning, men besitter ändå kunskap om det datorbaserade informationssystemet, kunskap som de förvärvat genom att ha arbetat med datorbaserade IS under många år. Kunskap och erfarenhet som användarna ofta får förlita sig på när ett nytt IS ska implementeras då tid och resurser saknas för en genomgripande utbildning. Användarnas förväntningar på ett nytt IS påverkas av faktorer, såsom erfarenheter från ett tidigare datorbaserat IS, saklig information och utbildning. Med saklig information menas information som både visar på för- och nackdelar.

With the increasing amount, complexity and dynamism of operational and strategic information in electronic and distributed environment, executives are seeking assistance for continuous, self-reactive and self-adaptive activities or approaches of acquiring, synthesising and interpreting information for intelligence with a view to determining the course of action - executive intelligence activities. Executives Information Systems (EIS) were originally emerged as a computer-based tool to help senior executives to manage the search and process of information. EIS was popularised in 1990's but EIS study have not advanced to a great extent in either research or practice since its prevalence in the mid and late 1990's. Conventional EIS studies have established some views and guidelines for EIS design and development, but the guidelines underpinned by preceding research have failed to develop robust yet rational EIS for handling the current executive's information environment. The most common deficiency of traditional EIS is the static and inflexible function with predetermined information needs and processes designed for static performance monitoring and control. The current emergence of the intelligent software agent, as a concept and a technology, with applications, provides prospects and advanced solutions for supporting executive's information processing activities in a more integrated and distributed environment of the Internet. Although software agents offer the prospective to support information processing activities intelligently, executive's desires and perception of agent-based support must be elucidated in order to develop a system that is considered valuable for executives. This research attempts to identify executive criteria of an agent-based EIS for supporting executive intelligence activities. Firstly, four focus groups were conducted to explore and reveal the current state of executive's information environment and information processing behaviour in the light of Internet era, from which to examine the validity of the conventional views of EIS purpose, functions and design guidelines. Initial executive criteria for agent-based EIS design were also identified in the focus group study. Secondly, 25 senior managers were interviewed for deeper insights on value-added attributes and processes of executive criteria for building agent-based EIS. The findings suggest a "usability-adaptability-intelligence" trichotomy of agent-based EIS design model that comprises executive criteria of value-added attributes and processes for building a usable, adaptable and intelligent EIS.

The present study aims to declare strategies that a higher education institute (namely TEI of Athens) could apply, in order to dynamically offer distance learning courses and certifications. The study introduces distance learning, focusing not only on technology but also on its significance for students and adult professionals who are looking to enhance their knowledge and skills as well as advantages and disadvantages this may have. In order to define the axles upon which the proposed strategy will be set, a distance learning planning template is presented, in order to clarify recommendations that should be made for a successful distance learning implementation. Moreover, it presents the associated research carried out; the methodology used and finally presents the summary of its outcomes. The outcomes are merged with the planning template, and a set of suggestions is finally made to the institution, that may assist to a successful implementation of a potential distance learning implementation.

The present research work is an exploratory study that aims to investigate the impact of Big Data Customer Analytics Use (BDCAUse) in customer relationship management (CRM) by providing a comprehensive overview of the main factors that can affect BDCAUse in the organizations andhow this use affects the information quality. The influence of BDCAUse could bring benefits and increase the competitive advantage for the companies. More precisely, this study analysed if customer orientation and big data analytics culture would improve the use of big data customer analytics in the organization, and if this would, in turn, enhance the quality of the information, thus the customer knowledge, get into more insights about the customer behaviour and answer the right needs of its customers. Using an online survey, respondents from different business units in different organizations and companies were invited to participate. The author received 20 responses of which 18 were considered valid. The data was analysed using the SPSS tool and SmartPLS to analyse the consistency of the measures used and to test the suggested research model.  The results show that customer orientation and big data analytics culture are key to influence the use of big data customer analytics to be able to gather information quality and improve the CRM performance in the organization. The main limitations of the research work consisted of collecting data with a relatively very small sample, although these were designed as an exploratory study to test first identified factors that could affect big data customer analytics use. A recommendation for future research would be to run the study with a larger sample size to analyse the research model and check again the reliability of the measures and the validity of the results. Keywords: Big Data Customer Analytics Use, Customer Orientation, Big Data Analytics Culture, Information Quality, Customer Relationship Management Performance

The purpose of this study was to respond to a call to the Information Systems (IS) discipline to provide solutions to address global challenges such as the seventh Millennium Development Goal of ensuring an interconnectedness of society and the environment. Many academic disciplines have recognised that sustainability is one of the most significant challenges of our time and thus needs to be included in curricula; IS, as a discipline, needed to fill this gap. A longitudinal six-year study was undertaken at the University of Cape Town (UCT) Department of IS to introduce the concept of “Green” IS into a project management course with students required to measure an aspect of the campus carbon footprint. Drawing on Design Science Research, the author used kernel theories of Butler’s Model of Green IS and the Scharmer’s Theory U to inform the design. The goal of the curriculum intervention was to design a model with outputs of key Green IS technical and social competences. The intention was also to create an impact with a reduced Carbon Footprint at UCT, despite the current absence of regulatory pressure. A total of 183 students were involved in the study over a period of six semesters where the theories of Green IS were presented as the underlying frameworks for their course. Key principles were drawn from international best practice, including how to address “wicked” sustainability problems and adopting a focus on developing sustainability solutions. Formative evaluations were conducted at the end of each cycle of the design development. Archival evidence, as well as student reflective essays, was employed, and content analysis and coding of the empirical data were conducted using a data analysis software tool. Experts were invited to summatively evaluate the model in practice, and their questionnaires were also coded in Atlas-ti and tested for co-occurrences. The contributions are provided on two levels. A contribution is made on a theoretical platform by the design of “The Green U’’, a model that evolved iteratively and has its roots in the kernel theories of both Green IS and change management. On a practical level, the research offers guidance to IS educators on how to integrate sustainability into their courses. Via enabling The Green U to be exapted into other emerging IS themes, this research project thus provides the opportunity for a seam of rich possibilities for further quantitative and qualitative research.

Never had consumers been empowered by information technologies such as social media-enabled portals that permit them to access and conduct all aspects of life and work activities through a mobile phone at any time from anywhere. WeChat, with over 963 million active monthly users, represents such a revolutionary platform. In healthcare, patients can use WeChat to make doctor appointments, access health and lab results, consult with doctors, and check on the queuing status and parking conditions in the health clinics and hospitals. Such social-media-enabled systems have transformed the relationships between consumers and businesses into a new paradigm in which the supply-side is driven by the demand-side. As a result, the new technology is fundamentally changing; not only the context in which business is conducted but also the business itself. The extant literature on technology acceptance, however, has mostly focused on technical functionalities and user characteristics without adequately considering the specific context in which the technology is used. Although these affordance concepts have advanced our knowledge about the interactions between technology and users, the specific contexts in which such interactions occur have been largely ignored. There is a critical literature gap that hinders our ability to understand and provide guidelines to help organizations deal with the complex challenges they face in managing social mediaenabled technologies in today’s changing environment. Our research attempts to bridge this critical literature gap by conceptualizing the concept of contextual affordance, and by examining its determinants and consequences in healthcare services. We use a combination of qualitative method and quantitative method. Research sites are in China across multiple healthcare facilities. The anticipated findings include validated dimensions of contextual affordance and relationships between contextual affordance and its determinants and impacts on clinical process changes and health service outcomes. Theoretically, this study extends the current understanding of affordance by considering contextual dimensions of affordance, and by examining the relationships between contextual affordance and its determinants and consequences. Practically, this study sheds new lights on how organizations should go beyond the out-of-context interactions between technologies and users by considering users’ perceived affordance of technology within the specific contexts of use.

This dissertation examines backsourcing of corporate IS activities, and why IS outsourcing clients decide to backsource. Information Systems (IS) backsourcing is a business practice in which a company takes back in-house assets, activities, and skills that are part of its IS operations and were previously outsourced to one or more outside information service suppliers. Focusing on economic, strategic and relationship motives, a number of theoretical backsourcing factors is derived from transaction cost theory, agency theory, core competency perspective, IOR theory and marketing channels literature. To identify factors salient in IS backsourcing and to examine the process of backsourcing this dissertation employs exploratory case study methodology. Six outsourcing contracts within three client companies are analyzed. The evidence is collected using semi-structured interviews, archival records and company documents. Results of individual cases are reported and then triangulated to single out the primary backsourcing antecedents. Qualitative comparative analysis is employed to augment the findings. The findings indicate that service quality of the outsourcing arrangement, cost benefit of backsourcing, change in the role of IS, loss of control over the outsourcing arrangement, changes in the management and power of decision makers and other organizations impact backsourcing decisions. Strategic considerations, change in the role of IS and loss of control, dominate backsourcing decision even if costs or service quality suggest otherwise. The executives exert power through their structural position within organization and have a major influence on decisions. Executives' beliefs, prior experience and values impact their perception of backsourcing and play a role in backsourcing decisions. Additionally, the power of other organizations involved in the interorganizational relationships with the client company is important. These organizations use political maneuvering to impose their goals on the client company. While service quality and cost considerations are important deliverables in the outsourcing contract, these factors by itself do not justify the decision to backsource.

Healthcare information systems (HISs), as a class of systems, are not currently addressed in the MIS literature. This is in spite of a sharp increase in use over the past few years, and the uniquely qualified role that MIS has in the development of, impact and general understanding of HISs. In this project the design science paradigm frames the development of a set of design principles derived from the synthesis of the design literature, ethics literature, and professional guidelines, from both the medical and computing professions. The resulting principles are offered to address the design of healthcare information systems. Action research, a widely accepted methodology for testing design principles derived from the design science paradigm, is employed to test the HIS principles and to implement change in a healthcare organization through the use of an HIS. The action research project was a collaborative effort between a Central Florida hospice and the researcher, the result of which was an advanced directives decision support system. The system was design to meet a number of organizational goals that ranged from tracking compliance with federal regulations to increasing the autonomy of the patients that used the system. The result is a set of tested design principles and lessons learned from both anticipated and unanticipated consequences of the action research project.

<p>A polling system is a cyclic queueing model with multiple customer classes and a single server. Each customer class has its own queue (station). After the server switches to a station, it serves customers waiting at that station according to a specified service regime, e.g., exhaustive, gated or globally gated. It then moves to the next station, following a strict cyclic order. These models have several application areas including computer and communication networks and multi-item production systems. For example, a Local Area Network (LAN) can be modeled as a polling system by defining the central processing unit as the server and the data transmission requests from each terminal as customers. Similarly, a multi-item production system can be modeled as a polling system by considering the flexible machining cell as the server and each product type as a different customer class. In most systems that polling models are used to represent, the server requires time to switch and/or setup before it may start serving a different customer class. These processes (switching/setup) may take considerable amounts of time, and when that happens, it is undesirable to setup for a product type if there are no (or only a few) jobs of that type in the system. Therefore, a server scheduling policy that ignores system state information can easily lead to suboptimal performance.</p> <p>Whereas most previous studies on polling models have assumed that the server behaves independently of the state of the system, we discuss two kinds of state-dependent server scheduling rules: i) the threshold setups model, and ii) the threshold start-up model. In the former model, the server does not setup (and does not serve any customers) at a station at which it finds less than a critical number of waiting customers, called the setup threshold. In the latter model, the server starts idling each time the system becomes empty, and it stays idle until arrivals to the system reach a critical number, called the start-up threshold. The server then resumes service from the station where it had stopped. Our analysis makes it possible to compare system performance under these state-dependent server scheduling rules and state-independent rules.</p> <p>In this dissertation the following results are achieved. We develop an exact analysis for the one-threshold setup model with two stations, and an efficient approximation for the same model with any number of stations. For the general threshold setups model, we construct a numerical solution technique which is near-exact for calculating queue length distributions and station mean waiting times. The threshold start-up model is analyzed in detail, and mathematically exact expressions for man station waiting times are obtained for both exhaustive and globally gated service regimes. For each model, the extension to the gated service regime is also discussed.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)