Includes bibliographical references. / Literature reveals that there exists a research gap between the development of information systems (IS) strategy and the implementation thereof. There is also a need for further research regarding the implementation of IS strategy in public hospitals in South Africa. The exploration of implementation in the context of public hospitals in South Africa, a country with many good policies and strategies that have been developed but that are not always implemented, is highly relevant. In this study we undertook to explore the intricacies of stakeholder relations and the implications of these relations on the implementation of IS strategy in public hospitals in South Africa. This research was interpretive following a case study approach. Two provinces of South Africa were selected as cases: the Western Cape province and the Kwazulu Natal province. The Activity Analysis and Development (ActAD) framework, an enhanced form of activity theory, was used as the theoretical framework. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews, meetings, documents analysis and physical artefacts observation. The collected data was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of this study reveal that factors related to stakeholder relations include the situational stakeholder relations dynamics and the level and motive of involvement in IS strategic activities and IS strategy operationalization processes at the different hierarchical levels. These factors affect the implementation of the IS strategy in public hospitals in South Africa by influencing different elements of the IS strategy implementation activity system. In the end we developed a framework, the stakeholder relations’ influence (SRI) framework which depicts the influence of stakeholder relations on the implementation of IS strategy in public hospitals in South Africa.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 301-325). / This thesis is concerned with exploring alternative conceptualizations of the e-government artifact relevant to developing countries in Africa. The premise is that e-government, as an artifact of human conception, remains relatively poorly developed at the levels of theory, methodologies and practice. The investigation is focused on two problematic areas of e-government: its conceptualization and its operationalization as an artifact. There is evidence to suggest that conceptualization of e-government takes place at various levels: international, national, local.

Despite the fact that it has been established that contextual factors affect implementation and implementation outcomes of ICT projects, there is a dearth of information on the impact of contextual factors on the implementation of the white paper in e-education in schools in previously disadvantaged areas in South Africa. To fill this gap, this study investigated how contextual factors affected the implementation and implementation outcomes of the white paper in e-education in schools in previously disadvantaged areas. In addition, the study sought to evaluate if these interventions added value to the teachers work. This study adopted a critical interpretivist approach and used the contextual interaction theory to guide the investigation. The research data was obtained through semi structured interviews with teachers and school management staff of public schools in previously disadvantaged areas in Cape Town, a panel discussion and review of the pertinent policy documents on Information Communication and Technology implementation in South African government schools. The findings of the study show that the implementation context, the history of the implementers, interactions between the policy actors and other issues that are in no way related to the implementation process affected the implementation process and outcomes. Furthermore, the implementation process was wrought with high degrees of ambiguity which is typical in public sector ICT policy implementation. The study also shows that there is need to have measures to evaluate ICT policy implementation which take into consideration the context in which the project exists and the perception of the intended recipients about the success or failure of the implementation. It is hoped that the results will assist those who carry out ICT implementation projects in disadvantaged areas in South Africa and similar context elsewhere insights into the implementation dynamics which can affect implementation outcomes. This thesis contributes to the knowledge base for effective implementation of e-policies, particularly in contexts such as previously disadvantaged areas by pointing out contextual issues and factors that mitigate against implementation efforts. The thesis also reveals practical implications for policy makers by highlighting the need for policies to be based on valid assumptions and be suitable to implementation contexts reflecting the needs, understandings and social realities of primary beneficiaries.

The management of water resources traverses many disciplines and involves multiple stakeholders. Water Management Information Systems (WMIS) is a combination of technological resources - software and hardware - and tools implemented to enhance the roles and functions, and the decision-making processes of water resource management. WMIS have been acknowledged to be a critical actor and part of the water resources management processes. Though the water resources management literature presents substantial evidence to back this claim, there is insufficient evidence of research in the IS literature to understand factors that affect the success of WMIS implementations. More importantly, due to the complexity of managing the resource, factors surrounding the systems and organisational context of water management institutions affect its implementations. The aim of this study is thus to develop, test and validate a model for understanding WMIS success in the water resources management context. This integrated model combines the system and organisational factors to develop the success model. The WMIS success model was conceptualized and operationalised based on the principles of water resources management, specifically the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), and two IS models - HOT-Fit Framework and DeLone and McLean IS success model. The model consisted of the system and organisational factors, and a set of outcome constructs or net benefits - WMIS for Water Management Operations and WMIS for Water Management Decision-Making - that represented WMIS success. The system factors consisted of five dimensions namely; WMIS System Quality, WMIS Information Quality, Service Quality, System Use and User Satisfaction; whereas the organisation factors consisted of Leadership, Structure and Environment constructs. The model was tested and validated using cross-sectional data collected from users of WMIS from various designations of the Department of Water and Sanitation in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality in Cape Town, South Africa. The study recorded a 38% response rate. To analyse and validate the model, a Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach to Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was employed. Overall, the variance explained in WMIS for Water Management Operations was 53% whiles WMIS for Water Management Decision-Making was 12%. The model fit was deemed substantial. The direct, indirect and total effects showed that, for the system factors, User Satisfaction (� =0,69) had the strongest total effect on WMIS for Water Management Operations, whereas System Use (� =0,25) had strongest total effect on WMIS for Water Management Decision-Making; in the organisation dimension, Environment (� =0,12) had the strongest total effect on WMIS for Water Management Operations, whereas Leadership (� =0,19) had the strongest total effect on WMIS for Water Management Decision-Making. User Satisfaction (� =0,69) had the strongest direct and total effect on WMIS for Water Management Operations, whereas System Use (�=0,25) had the strongest direct and total effect on WMIS for Water Management Decision-Making in the human dimension. Though some of the relationships between the constructs were new to the water management context, some of the remaining relationships were consistent with finding from other systems in the IS domain. Further, the findings suggested that Service Quality, which in the contextual sense implied system and IT support staff, must be present onsite within the water management organisations to support WMIS users. Leaders in the various designations must have both and transactional and transformational characteristics. In this regard, they must ensure that they motivate users and commend them when they produce good work that affects the outcomes. Management should also ensure that they pay attention to external environmental factors like accreditation standards that affect their operations. Finally, this research has provided empirical evidence of the development of an integrated WMIS success model that is based on IS models and water resources management principles.

Includes bibliographical references. / Evaluating the impact of Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D) has been a challenge both in terms of theoretical and methodological approaches. It has been pointed out in extant literature that ICT4D impact studies are few compared to those that investigate determinants of adoption. Knowledge of this scarcity and the theoretical and methodological limitations led to the conception of this study. This study set out to investigate the decision criteria evaluated by Kenyan micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) when making the initial mobile banking adoption and usage decisions with a view to unearth the designed and emergent consequences. Ethnographic decision tree modelling (EDTM) which is a cognitive research methodology was feasibly employed to obtain the adoption and usage decision criteria from which quantifiable and non-quantifiable consequences were then inferred. Structuration theory was used as a theoretical lens to view the complex context in which mobile banking is embedded and adopted by MSMEs. The analysis of the empirical data obtained from the MSMEs led to the construction and testing of three decision models from which the study’s theory was developed. The derived theory demonstrates the existence of structurational interactions among decision criteria, antecedents of technology adoption, behavioural intention to adopt, and the designed and emergent consequences of actual usage. The study further reveals that contrary to popular belief and argument that adoption of mobile banking technology lowers financial services cost, Kenyan MSMEs adopt the technology not because of its affordability but because of other factors such as perceived usefulness, accessibility, safe custody of daily income, limited organizational capabilities, perceived ease of use, social capital and trust structures. The derived explanatory-predictive theory provides findings that may have significant implications for fiscal and monetary policymakers, development experts and mobile banking technology designers.

Includes bibliographical references. / The standard business conception of the employee is as a blank slate machine motivated through a behaviourist system of reward and punishment. In contrast to this conception, studies of human evolution, neurology and cognition suggest that motivation emerges from the interaction of a complex and non-linear system of variables. This two-part study uses a conceptual model of work motivation based on systems and complexity theory to identify and interpret the significance of outlying variables in the motivations of groups of working professionals with different career orientations. In the first part of the fieldwork, fifty respondents from each of four career orientations (business managers, professional creative artists, entrepreneurs and students studying in creative fields) completed a self-assessment tool in which they indicated their strength of agreement or disagreement with the presence of fifteen motivation variables in their pursuit of a work goal. The responses of each career group were clustered using artificial neural network analysis and outlying motivation variables within clusters that differed significantly from the mean were identified. In the second part of the fieldwork, the meanings of outlying variables were interpreted by focus groups representing each of the four different career orientations. While on average, respondents agreed that all motivational variables were fulfilled in their pursuit of a work goal, unsupervised artificial neural network clustering identified between two and four clusters of respondents within each career group that showed responses differing significantly from the mean. These were mainly in the form of disagreement with fulfilment of one or more variables of motivation. Focus groups were able to identify with and provide context to these outlying responses.

For almost three decades, Somalia has defied definition and expectation precisely because the country has lacked an effective, centralized state apparatus. As a result, the term 'failed state’ is often applied to Somalia in popular discourse and by scholars. For a state to formally function as such, a few conditions must be met including the state’s ability to unquestionably legitimatize its authority over its territory, its residents pledging allegiance to that state, and explicit recognition by other states. Despite the perceived chaos and violence associated with the country, there is evidence of structures that allow for markets to function and social services to be delivered. The Somali diaspora is one factor in supporting Somalia’s economic and social system, as remittances pay for children’s education, social services and provide investment funds for businesses. Moreover, Somalia has been able to foster a vibrant Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) sector, comparable to that of its more stable and wealthier East African neighbours. Therefore, the objective of this Information Systems thesis is to examine how Information Communication Technologies are utilized within communities that are considered failed (or failing) and lack defined, and legitimate state apparatus. The guiding research question for this thesis is: What role does Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and the diaspora play in the creation of a `stable` Somalia? To address the research question, in addition to providing Somalia’s historical context, three interrelated empirical studies were designed. The first study utilizes both qualitative and quantitative content analysis approaches to extend our understanding of how Somalia is defined in Western media. This included determining when the failed state term became synonymous with Somalia. The study, additionally, applies the principles of Critical Discourse Analysis to explore how Somalia and Somalis are perceived and portrayed in Western news sources. The study confirmed that Western media narratives about the country are negative in tone, violent in the description and have reinforced negative stereotypes regarding Somalia and its people. The second study explores the existing social structures in Somalia, utilizing Anthony Giddens’s Structuration Theory. More specifically, the study examines the banking and credit system used by Somalis, how the education and justice systems are delivered along with other necessary social services accessed by residents within the country. Through in-country key Mohamed Elmi PhD. Thesis iv informant interviews from various sectors and industries, the study aimed to discover how visible and invisible institutions that are central to the delivery of social and economic services in Somalia are mediated by ICTs. This study found evidence of functioning social structures, despite the failed state label applied to Somalia. The third study aimed, through surveys and key informant interviews, to better understand the role played by the diaspora in Somalia’s economic and social system. This study explores the institution behind the Hawala system and how it is enabled by technology. By examining how the remittance system works and the methods Somalis employ including recent innovations such as mobile banking, this study also establishes the role of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the Somali money transfer sector. In the concluding chapter, the contributions to both the Information Systems field and our collective understanding of Somalia are discussed. Drawing on the evidence from the three studies, this chapter makes four main claims. The first claim of this study is that ICTs act as a binding agent of social structures within Somalia as defined by a social theory framework. I am thus demonstrating why Somali social institutions function in the absence of a robust administrative state. The second claim argues that the diaspora are essential agents in stabilizing Somali social and economic institutions by offering financial aid, investments and knowledge transfer. The third claim suggests that the perceptions of Somalia and its people have been negatively influenced by Western news media. Finally, I argue that definitions of a failed state are narrow, Western-centric and do not necessarily apply to Somalia.

Includes bibliographical references. / Strategic information systems planning (SISP) has been a key issue for Information Systems (IS) managers over several decades. As a consequence, much research has been devoted to studing it. Noted concerns have been the gap between opinion and practice, and the absence of a sound theory to underpin it. Attempts at developing an overarching theoretical framework have typically used an input-process-output variance model as the basis. Rich processual elements of SISP, and the existence of feedback loops, which could then lead to improved practice, have however, been noted as absent from these models. Synthesis and integration of the above concerns lead to the goal of this study, which was to develop rich processual theories about SISP. The grounded theory methodology was ideally suited to this purpose as it aims to develop theory that is well grounded in data, and therefore very much reflective of the reality presented by the data.

At first glance, innovation and risk management seem like two opposing disciplines with diverse objectives. The former seeks to be flexible and encourages enhanced solutions and new ideas, while the latter can be seen as stifling such innovative thinking. Since there is a failure rate of as many as eight out of every ten products launched, it is perhaps necessary for organisations to consider applying more structured approaches to innovation, in order to better manage risks and to increase the chances of delivering improved goods and services. A risk management approach is well suited to address the challenge of failure, as it focuses not only on the negative impact of risks but also on the opportunities they present. It aligns these with the strategic objectives of the organisation to increase the chances of its success. The research objective of this study was to establish how to embed risk management within the innovation divisions of an organisation to ensure that more efficient products and services are delivered to customers. To achieve this end, action research was conducted in a large organisation operating in a high-technology environment that launches many diverse products and services and rapidly expanding service offerings to other industries. The study took four years to complete and delivered multiple interventions that successfully embedded risk management within the organisation, leading to changed behaviours and double-loop learning. Two main knowledge contributions are offered by the study. Firstly, a generic and empirically validated integrated Innovation and Risk Management Framework (IRMF) is developed and guides new product and service development by considering both best practices and risks. Secondly, a risk dashboard is designed as a design science artefact within the action research cycles, which consolidates all the knowledge that was generated during the study. This is ultimately a visual interface to support stage-gate decision making. Since the context of the study was broad, extensive and complicated, the use of mixed-method research complemented and expanded on the findings by providing another layer of support and validation. This thesis highlights the complexity of innovation and presents the need for an organising framework that will encourage innovation but is sufficiently flexible to cater for diverse needs and risks. The study delivers several other, valuable contributions regarding what, how and why incidents occur within the real-world context of new product and service development. Several generic artefacts, such as risk processes and maturity frameworks, are also developed, which can guide risk and new product and service development practitioners to deliver more efficient product and services. This study offers several novel approaches to evaluating risks and provides practical support and recommendations, addressing shortcomings of fragmented research in similar, but smaller-scale studies that have been conducted in information systems. It is the premise of this research that a much wider number of risks need to be managed as new products and services are developed, than was noted in previous studies. Effective risk management in new product and service development could lead to competitive advantage for organisations by increasing knowledge and facilitating sustainable, informed risk decision-making.

This PhD research project investigated the failure of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) ICT service delivery project between the South African Department of Labour (DOL) and Siemens Information Services (SIS). The research investigated conditions contributing to management failure of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Implementation project, which had the objective of improving the Department of Labour's service operations and the transfer of ERP technology competence to the DOL. An important objective of this research was to develop an understanding of the special challenges of PPP management in the context of emerging and developing countries. International organizations such as the IMF, World Bank and United Nations (UN) have been encouraging emerging and developing countries to adopt PPPs as vehicles for developing technology competence and improving public sector efficiency. However, little research has been conducted to discover whether these countries have the competencies to successfully implement and manage PPPs. The goal of this PhD study was to develop an understanding of factors and conditions influencing the DOL-SIS PPP failure in order to develop theory and approaches, which could help improve management practices in the area of contracting-out ICT service delivery in the public sector of the Republic of South Africa. The research was guided by an agency theory framework and utilised a multi-method approach to conduct three empirical investigations into the PPP institutional framework, project governance and public accountability aspects of the DOL-SIS project. Some important findings of this research are: (1) Robust institutional policies and governance mechanisms specific to PPPs for ICT service delivery are necessary but not sufficient to combat risks of failure; robust mechanisms for performance monitoring and penalties for shirking are also necessary. (2) Public sector managers need specialised knowledge and competence to effectively manage private partners in the execution of ICT PPP contracts; over dependence on the private partners can significantly increase the risk of project failure, and encourage opportunistic behaviour and shirking by the private partner. (3) Transparent project governance and public accountability mechanisms are necessary to maintaining public support and combating opportunistic behaviour of both private and public partners on a PPP ICT services project. The thesis comprises three empirical studies: Study 1 used an agency theory framework to interrogate the PPP institutional framework to understand its provisions for identifying and managing risk factors in ICT service delivery projects. Study 2 analysed data from interviews with stakeholders, the contract meeting minutes and other relevant documents, guided by the agency theory framework to develop an understanding of project governance challenges. Study 3 focused on identifying public accountability issues and used a critical discourse analysis methodology to interrogate the media discourse concerning the failure of the DOL-SIS ERP Implementation failure. Content analysis with the use of ATLAS/TI and automated tool was used to analyse all the relevant documents for the different studies. The general contribution of this PhD research is an explanatory theory illustrating how interactions among institutional conditions, governance mechanisms, knowledge and management competence deficits, and the behaviour of the PPP actors reinforced dysfunctional organisational conditions, which resulted in project failure. The theory is illustrated using a causal loop modelling technique and a set of five theoretical propositions clarifying the organizational knowledge and competence challenges, which the public sector managers faced, and the consequences of these affecting the success of the PPP project. This is an important contribution to literature on the use of PPPs for ICT service delivery not only in emerging and developing country contexts, but in developed contexts as well. Other contributions specific to the South African perspective are: (1) Study 1 revealed gaps in the institutional framework concerning the management of risks in ICT PPP projects. While South Africa has much experience with managing risks in the engineering and delivery of physical infrastructure, there is a comparable lack experience with managing ICT infrastructure implementation project risks. (2) Studies 1 and 2 reveal gaps in the governance and accountability mechanisms and practices which can be exploited with adverse consequences to the public interest. These studies also point to the importance of robust transparency and governance mechanisms, and high levels of management competence to the effective risk management of PPPs for ICT service delivery. (3) Study 3 reveals importance of the independent media in fostering debate, uncovering evidence, scrutinizing the activities of the actors in the DOL-SIS PPP and defending the public interest. The independent media played a critical role of agitating for public accountability when the DOL was reluctant to do so, and raising issues about SIS underperformance and pushing for public investigation into the governance of the DOL-SIS ERP Implementation project.