M.Bibl. / Information is increasingly recognised and managed as a resource. In any organisation it contribute directly to the performance of all functions. The purpose of this study was to use Burk and Horton's methodology to conduct an information audit to an assurance enterprise to identify the company's strategic information. This was to prove the importance of information as a corporate resource for competitive advantage. A literature study was undertaken as well as an overview of the method and results of an information audit. The information audit was only done for the library and the law administration department. The literature study gave the necessary overview of the information audit method, but the empirical investigation provided the value of the information. Information was collected on three different forms. The first was the inventory which was divided in three sections: sources, services and systems. The second form was the file surrogate card, which contained all the information of the law files. The third form was a questionnaire to establish the information needs of the users as well as the availability of the information they need to fulfil their tasks. The information flow was also monitored in the company. Although the "lnfoMap" -method of Burk and Horton was used, it was discovered that this method had several shortcomings regarding the practical application, such as the calculation of the monetary value of the information. After an analysis of the research results it is evident from the shortcomings and needs that have come to light regarding the management, objectives, use, value and cost of information assets that it is necessary to formulates an information policy and that the conclusion can be drawn that the information audit provides meaningful data that can serve as the starting point for developing a formal information management plan for this insurance company.

M. Inf. / Enterprises are becoming more dependent on information than ever before and, in this new millennium, the survival and success of these enterprises will highly depend on the ability to manage information as a resource for competitive advantage. This study is concerned with establishing the extent to which information management is practiced in financial institutions in Botswana. The main problem under investigation is the importance of information management within an enterprise and to ascertain how information can ensure competitive advantage in an enterprise. In the first four chapters, a literature survey is done to get a better understanding of what information management is and how information management can transform business and how information management can be used as a source of sustainable competitive advantage. The second part of the study is the empirical survey where qualitative research was conducted on financial institutions in Botswana, including commercial banks and insurance companies. The aim of the research was to determine the status of information management in these institutions as well as to investigate what people generally understand the concept information management- to mean. It was further investigated if at all information management was an issue in the enterprise culture of Botswana and if the concerned institutions regard information management as a source for competitive advantage. Structured interviews were conducted with top management in ten business institutions. The data obtained from the interviews was analysed and interpreted according to the grounded theory. The findings of the research revealed that information management, as a formalised concept, is fairly new to most business enterprise managers, and that there is no common understanding of the concept. It is however evident that most business managers accept the fact that information management is a necessary condition for ensuring the sustainability of their business enterprises. Most of them acknowledged that information is very critical for the survival of the business and for staying ahead of others. It is recommended that enterprises should adopt a holistic approach towards information management. Business enterprises should employ people with proper information management skills and trained personnel in this area.

M.A. / Managers have an important and prominent role in an organisation. As decision-makers they hold the authority and responsibility to act on the available information. As leaders, they set examples and promote a culture of information sharing and collaboration. As strategists, they ensure that information policies are well aligned with the organisation's mission. One of the greatest challenges facing an organisation is to understand how the external environment is changing, what the changes mean, and how the organisation can best respond to the new provisos. The process of learning about the external environment is environmental scanning, i.e. the art of gathering and interpreting information about the environment enabling the organisation to have the knowledge to develop effective courses of action. The goal of information management is thus to harness information resources and information capabilities to enable the organisation to learn and adapt in an ever-changing environment. Key information processes will be assessed with reference to special problems of managing each process. At the same time the opportunity for change would be highlighted by combining an understanding of information use behaviours with a more flexible, user centred design of information services and systems. Competitive intelligence on the other hand is the systematic process of gathering and analysing information about the activities of competitors and general business trends to further the organisation’s goals. All definitions point toward creating knowledge from openly available information by use of a systematic process involving planning, collection, analysis, communication and management which result in decision-maker action. While competitive intelligence incorporates knowledge management processes of collecting and storing knowledge, competitive intelligence definitions discuss the actual analysis of the gathered information. Key factors for success of information management in organisations reinforce the need for the integration of business strategy and information. The key factors are the relationships with customers and suppliers; flatter management structures and better use of resources; training and quality and environmental issues. Each of these factors rests on information, its use, creation, storage and dissemination. A process approach to information management supports the integration of business strategy and information. The calls for integration come from at least three different communities: information management, information systems and management. Successful companies are those that adapt to and shape their environments. They do so by using and creating information in a process of continuous improvement and innovation. Key factors for success in organisations reinforce the need for integration of business strategy and information. Managers in firms see their success as dependent on their organisation's ability to accommodate and manage change and to respond to changes in their environments. The study concludes with a case study of Pyromet Technologies showing that it is possible to have an integrated strategic information management model incorporating all three variables successfully.

Information System development involves various activities; the process of developing information systems is considered to be the production of a series of documents. The information derived from the activities of the life cycle needs to be stored in a way that will facilitate the carrying out of subsequent activities. That is, information must be stored with a consistent, semantically rich, flexible, and efficient structure that will make it accessible for use by various tools employed in carrying out the development process. In this research, knowledge base management system (KBMS) to manage the information created by the information system development process was designed and implemented. Several contemporary popular knowledge representation schemes can be managed conveniently by this KBMS, which utilized efficient database techniques to facilitate fast retrieval and traversal of the underlying semantic inheritance net and frame knowledge structure. Inference and logic deduction capability was made a part of the static knowledge structure to further extend the functionality of the KBMS. Furthermore, a specially designed relational database management system was implemented and interfaced with the KBMS to alleviate the possibility of a storage saturation problem and to facilitate the storage of detailed exclusive information of terms defined in the knowledge base. Models that are applicable to various information system development activities were identified and stored in the knowledge base. The aggregation of those models is, in fact, a conceptual non-procedural language that provides a concise descriptive framework to help the user gather and manage information derived from various activities during the information system development process. The knowledge base, the language, and several knowledge-base related tools were used by more than seventy graduate students in a case study for a system analysis and design course. An information system methodology specifically tailored for this knowledge base supported environment was proposed and applied in a simplified case to illustrate the process of how a database-centered information system can be derived from the initial strategic planning phase. The methodology explored and made use of the storage structure of the closely coupled knowledge base and database. Finally, future research direction was identified.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the past decade or two companies started to realise that competitive advantage is not only achieved by optimising their business value chain, but also in managing the knowledge in the company. This led to the development of different knowledge management models and to millions of dollars being spent on knowledge management implementations across the world. Although there were huge successes, a large number of initiatives were spectacular failures - believed to be mainly caused by the linear method of capturing and presenting knowledge. Computer-based mapping tools is a new generation of personal computer (PC) based tools that allow people to present knowledge graphically. Since the focus of most research into computer-based mapping tools has been on the educational use of mapping tools, the focus of this study will be on the business use of these tools. Thus a number of common, off-the-shelf computer-based mapping tools were evaluated to determine whether they can add business value. From the evaluation a decision matrix was developed to assist knowledge workers in selecting the best tool for a specific application. The primary activities of the knowledge value chain model were investigated to select a series of business activities where the use of computer-based mapping tools could possibly generate more business value in the execution of the business activity. These activities were then measured against a set of criteria that was developed in order to evaluate the different computer-based mapping tools. It was found that the selected software applications could be clearly separated based upon their theoretical and philosophical backgrounds into concept mapping tools and mind mapping tools. It was further found that the possible business value that could be derived through the use of these tools is more dependent on the selection of the correct type of tool, than on the selection of a specific software package. Lastly it was found that concept mapping tools could be used across a broader spectrum of business activities. The research also reached the conclusion that the use of concept mapping tools will possibly add more value to a business than the use of mind mapping software. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Gedurende die afgelope dekade of wat het maatskappye al meer begin besef dat hulle mededingingsvoordeel nie net geleë is in hoe goed hulle die besigheid se waardeketting kan optimiseer nie, maar dat die kennis in die maatskappy ook beter bestuur moet word. Dit het tot gevolg gehad dat 'n aansienlike hoeveelheid kennis bestuursmodelle ontwikkel is en dat miljoene dollar gespandeer is op die implementering van kennis bestuurstelsels. Ten spyte van groot suksesse wat behaal is, was daar ook totale mislukkings. Die vermoede bestaan dat een van die redes vir die mislukkings die liniêre manier is waarop kennis vasgevang en aangebied is. Rekenaar-gebaseerde karteringspakkette is 'n nuwe generasie van persoonlike rekenaar programmatuur wat gebruikers in staat stel om kennis grafies voor te stel. Die meeste navorsing oor die gebruik van rekenaar-gebaseerde karteringspakkette het egter op die opvoedkundige aspek daarvan gefokus. In hierdie navorsing val die fokus eerder op die besigheidsgebruik van sodanige gereedskap. 'n Aantal algemeen beskikbare, van-die-rak pakkette is ge-evalueër om vas te stel of hulle waarde tot 'n besigheid kan toevoeg. Vanuit hierdie evaluering is In keuse-matriks saamgestel om kenniswerkers in staat te stel om die beste pakket vir 'n spesifieke besigheidsaktiwiteit te kies. Die primêre aktiwiteite van die kennis waardeketting model is ondersoek ten einde 'n aantal besigheidsaktiwiteite te kan selekteer wat moontlik meer waarde tot die besigheid kan toevoeg deur die gebruik van rekenaar-gebaseerde karteringspakkette. Die geselekteerde aktiwiteite is gemeet teen 'n reeks kriteria wat ontwikkel is om die verskillende rekenaar-gebaseerde karteringspakette teen mekaar op te weeg. Die navorsing het bevind dat die geselekteerde programmatuur pakkette hoofsaaklik in twee groepe val op grond van hulle teoretiese en filosofiese funderings, naamlik konsepkaarte en gedagtekaarte. Verder is vasgestel dat meer besigheidswaarde ontsluit word deur die keuse van die regte tipe programmatuur vir 'n spesifieke aanwending as deur die keuse van In spesifieke programmatuur pakket. Laastens is bevind dat konsepkaarte oor 'n wyer verspreiding van besigheidsaktiwiteite gebruik kan word. Eventueel kan afgelei word dat die gebruik van konsepkaarte meer waarde tot 'n besigheid sal toevoeg as die gebruik van gedagtekaarte.

This dissertation provides a foundation for electronic information management in organizations. It focuses on the relationships among communication, control, and information flows of the organization. The main thesis addresses the question of how electronic mail messages may be managed according to their contents, ensuring at the same time, the preservation of organizational and social relationships. A taxonomy for the management of unstructured electronic information relevance based on the treatment of information is derived from current research. Among the three paradigms, the information processing, the information distribution, and the information sharing paradigms, the inadequacy of the first two is recognized, and the treatment of information in its active mode is proposed. This taxonomy can be used to quickly differentiate one research from another and evaluate its adequacy. Three concepts, four cornerstones, and an architecture constitute our framework of information relevance management. The cornerstones are knowledge of the organization, knowledge of the individual, information construction, and information interpretation. Through knowledge of the organization and the individual, the machine production systems are able to distribute and manage information according to the logic of human production systems. The other two cornerstones together improve the unity of interpretation among the organizational members. The physical architecture can adapt a number of applications, each of which, may not only have different knowledge presentations and inference mothods, but also may co-exist in the system simultaneously. An integrated knowledge-based electronic messaging system, the AI-MAIL system, is built, tested, and evaluated through a case study to demonstrate the feasibility of the architecture and its applicability to the real-world environment. The three operating levels, interorganizational, intraorganizational, and individual, are illustrated through a study of the U.S. Army. From three large scale field studies, the existing AUTODIN I system, a backbone of the Army's communications, is analyzed and evaluated to illustrate the applicability and benefits of the three operating levels. This dissertation contributes to the field of Management Information Systems by offering a methodology, a taxonomy, a new paradigm, a framework, and a system for information management and a method of adaptive organizational design. In addition, it points toward future research directions. Among them are research to deal with ethical issues, organizational research, knowledge engineering, multi-processor configuration, and internal protocols for applications.

M.Com. (Informatics) / This dissertation's objective is to supply a general, functional and business orientated discussion of the measurement of information system users' satisfaction. The result of this measurement acts as a measure of the data-processing function's success. It is however, not the purpose of this study to prescribe or develop a new standard method of measurement. This discussion also supplies a grounding for any further doctoral studies in this field. The dissertation's contents, highlights and exposition are being discussed in this synopsis. The motivation of this study lies first of all in the economical and strategic importance [2,3,44,20,17] of the data processing function for an organisation. Secondly, it lies in the importance of satisfied users, or clients, for the success of the data processing function. It is therefore important to always ensure the success of the data processing function, as well as to measure the subjective user satisfaction, accurately and effectively. This study is based on a previous study by Prof. JHP Eloff and DNJ Mostert [7,43], who created a general measurement process that determines the satisfaction of information system users; as well as various other research projects regarding the development and evaluating of these methods of measurement. The various, existing methods of measurement which were found in the literature, i.e: Pearson [6,33]; Baroudi [4,15]; Bailey [16]; Raymond [5] and Tan and Lo [36] , are being discussed in this dissertation. Due to the objective of this dissertation and the business orientated nature of this study, the statistical and critical evaluation of these methods are not being discussed. An attempt is however made to supply a broad view of the available methods of measurement, as well as the various contributions to the field of study by these research projects.

A model of simulation with mixed-integer programming was created to simulate ordering, production planning, and supplying activities with and without supply information sharing in a three-level capacitated supply chain consisting of multiple suppliers, one manufacturer and multiple retailers. The simulation results indicate that supply information sharing can significantly reduce total cost and enhance service level of the whole supply chain and its members. It can also lessen order variance of downstream members in the supply chain. In addition, the impacts of supply information sharing on the supply chain performance are heavily influenced by demand patterns, capacity tightness, forecast accuracy, product substitution, and the availability of raw materials. / Fierce business competition forces enterprises to pay more attention to the coordination with their suppliers and customers. Information sharing is a prerequisite for coordinated supply chain operations. A wide range of literature emphasizes the importance of information sharing to supply chain performance. According to the direction of information flow between supply chain members, information sharing can be classified into two categories: demand-side information sharing and supply-side information sharing. Previous literature already made a wide variety of insightful explorations into demand-side information sharing in supply chain, such as demand, forecasting, inventory, and order information sharing. However, research efforts have rarely been made into supply-side information sharing. Therefore, this dissertation explores the impacts of supply-side information sharing. / Keywords. Information Sharing; Supply Chain; Simulation. / This dissertation contributes to extending the content and scope of supply chain information sharing research. Managerially speaking, the findings of this dissertation provide important reference for supply chain managers to implement supply information sharing in order to improve decision-making process, reduce uncertainties, and increase visibility in supply chain operations. / Zhou Qiang. / "June 2006." / Adviser: Tien-sheng Lee. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-02, Section: A, page: 0648. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 170-176). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

No description available.

No description available.