Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, August, 2008. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2006. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-166). Also available via the World Wide Web.

<p> Consumers in the United States have three payment options at a point of sale terminal purchase with a merchant: (a) pay with cash, (b) write a check, or (c) swipe and sign for the transaction with a debit or credit card. Consumers may be reluctance to accept changes in their daily routine with respect to payment options, which may impede acceptance of evolving payment methods like mobile and contactless cards (MCC). Hence, the purpose of this qualitative case study using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was to examine the reasons given by consumers on why they are willing or unwilling to accept this alternative payment system. The selected participants were obtained via a signup sheet at PSCU for of this case study. After signing the informed consent form, the particpants were provided a link to Survey Monkey&trade;. The participants of the case study represented a broad level based off education, age, marriage and work levels. The partcipants provided their responses to questions that gaugued their knowledge and willingness to try new payment technologies such as mobile and contactless card payments. The responses provided by the participants demonstrated that ease of use (PEO) and usefulness (PEOU) were primary factors in using new payment technologies. Security of the financial data was a factor in the use of new new payment technology as cosnumers have become more conscious of data breaches. Future case studies should be conducted to determine the impact on segements such as the underbanked or underserved markets.</p>

The Potential Role of Business Intelligence in Church Organizations

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009. / Prepared for: Dept. of Information Systems. Title from title-page of electronic thesis. Bibliography: leaves 168-174.

<p> Many IT projects fail despite the best efforts to keep these projects within budget, schedule, and scope. Few studies have looked at the effect of project risk management tools and techniques on project success. The primary focus of this study was to examine the extent to which utilization of project risk management processes influence project success. A secondary focus of the study was to determine if utilization of project risk management processes correlates with project success more than project manager experience, certification, level of education, and project size, type, or duration. To meet the objectives of the study, a survey instrument was developed and piloted. The final instrument was administered to a group of IT project management practitioners to assess the utilization of specific project risk management tools and techniques on a recently completed project. The answers were combined with the participants' self-reported project success as measured by end-of-project budget, schedule, and scope success metrics. While the results of the study did not point to a specific project risk management tool or technique to predict an IT project's success, valuable insight was gained when stepping back and looking at overall factors that influence project success. When looking at these factors, the researcher found there was a statistical correlation that indicated the use of project risk management processes as a whole are a better predictor of IT project success than a project manager's experience, certification, level of education, and project size, type, or duration in the majority of success areas measured.</p>

<p> Feature selection is one of the most important decisions made by product managers. This three article study investigates the concepts, tools and techniques for making trade-off decisions of introducing new features in evolving Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software products. The first article investigates the efficacy of various feature selection techniques when the trade-off is between comprehensiveness and time-to-market. The second article investigates the impact of current level of product performance when the trade-off is between providing different types of innovative features to the users. The third article investigates the impact on the ability of the COTS product to attract new users and retain existing users when the trade-off is between providing utilitarian and hedonic value through new product features. </p><p> To meet these research goals an extensive multidisciplinary study of Information Systems (IS) and Product Development literatures was conducted followed by experimental research. The experiments were conducted among youth between 19-24 years who were users of Gmail software and produced some key findings. </p><p> In the first study the Kano survey method was found to be effective in identifying those features which added value to the product and those that did not. This finding will facilitate product managers in using appropriate techniques for identifying the critical product features to be built into the COTS product thereby reducing time-to-market without sacrificing product quality. In the second study, current COTS product performance was found to significantly impact the type of innovation to be introduced into the COTS product. Basic or Core product innovations were found to have value for the users when performance is low but not when the performance is high. On the other hand, Expected or product Performance innovations and Augmented or user Excitement innovations were found to have value when the performance is high but not when the performance is low. In the third study, Hedonic value and Utilitarian value of product features were found to have distinctive impact on users. While Hedonic value impacted Word-of-Mouth, a measure of the products' capacity to attract new customers, Utilitarian value impacted User Loyalty, a measure of the products' capacity to retain existing customers.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to examine the experiences of clinicians in the adoption of Electronic Medical Records in a Medicare certified Home Health Agency. An additional goal for this study was to triangulate qualitative research between describing, explaining, and exploring technology acceptance. The experiences were studied through an anonymous survey using a third party vendor. The data revealed that in spite of Internet and connectivity issues, clinicians at XYZ Home Care overlooked these issues because of the benefits in utilizing an electronic medical record system. These benefits include quick access to patient medical records and saving time. The data allowed for triangulation between describing, explaining, and exploring technology acceptance.</p>

Customer satisfaction is a critical component of a business's competitive strategy. Autolab Csi, a division of the South African Sugar Association, is operating in a deregulated market environment and thus has to ensure that customers are always satisfied with the quality of service received. Poor service can threaten the viability of a business and Autolab Csi need to establish suitable and effective service delivery mechanisms and minimise the threat of competitors entering the sugar industry laboratory systems services market. Customer satisfaction is dependent on the quality of service that a service provider has to offer its customers. Autolab Csi have embarked on a programme to adopt best practice Information Technology (IT) service process as described in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) model as a means to improve customer satisfaction. The ITIL model consists of twelve service processes that are grouped into four categories namely, Service Delivery, Service Support, Service Desk and Security Management. ITIL is not recognised by the International Standards Organisation (ISO) as an international standard for IT service delivery. The British Standards Institute standard BS 15000 had been released to address the need for a recognised standard and is shortly due to be adopted by the ISO. The study hypothesises there is adoption of all twelve service processes by Autolab Csi but not all processes have been completely and/or successfully implemented. Compliance of the ITIL Service Delivery process to the BS15000 standard is reviewed concomitantly with the ITIL adoption assessment. As part of the process of implementation of the ITIL framework, Autolab Csi had faced challenges to the process yet had also benefited. The study investigates these benefits and challenges from the perspective of understanding how success can be achieved with the implementation of ITIL processes. The study shows that Autolab Csi has made measurable progress in the implementation of all twelve ITIL service processes. The service process areas of Security Management, Service Desk and some processes of Service Delivery show the highest levels of ITIL compliance. Service Support shows the lowest levels of ITIL compliance in particular, the Change and Release Management processes. The presented data allows for the development of targeted strategies to continuously improve Autolab Csi's service delivery mechanisms. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College, 2004.

<p> The percentage of failure in traditional project management is high, as nearly 70% of projects fail (The Standish Group, 2009). Unsuccessful projects impact businesses, customers, and society in sizable ways. </p><p> Project success and failure research fit into two categories: (a) project management methodological issues and (b) leadership and organizational behavior issues. Most research focuses on the former. This research addressed the later, specifically examining Information Technology (IT) project workers who reside in the United States. </p><p> The central research question was, What is the optimal organizational culture for IT project teams such that success factors are enhanced and failure factors are lessened? A mixed-methods study was designed and implemented. For Phase One, an internet survey was conducted using Cameron and Quinn's (2006) Competing Values Framework (Organizational Culture Assessment Inventory (OCAI)) and compared to a measure of IT Project Success. For Phase Two, qualitative interviews were carried out using Schein's (2004) Three Levels Model of organizational culture, and then a Thematic Analysis was completed to obtain an optimal culture model. </p><p> One hundred forty-one participants completed Phase One. Results showed no significant correlation between the four culture types (Clan, Adhocracy, Market, and Hierarchy) and IT project success. For Phase Two, 15 participants of varying job roles and demographics completed interviews. Applying Thematic Analysis techniques, 175 codes related to leadership and organizational behavior issues were determined, which produced twenty-six themes. </p><p> The findings from Phase Two produced a set of interrelated organizational culture factors that IT project workers believed were optimal for project success. The framework was termed Enlightened Information Technology Project Culture (EITPC)TM and comprised four dimensions: (a) organizational behavior/leadership, (b) processes, (c) support, and (d) technology. The results suggest that if managers and consultants implemented this model, or applicable factors, that their IT projects would likely have greater success, or lower degrees of failure. </p><p> Suggestions for future research is to continue to study leadership and organizational behavior issues of project teams. Additional research is needed on the Enlightened Information Technology Project Culture (EITPC)TM framework to determine whether differing demographics of IT workers and company (or project) types impact the results.</p>