Online communities have become an increasingly popular channel for social interaction, enabling knowledge and opinion sharing across a board range of topics and contexts. Their viability and sustainability depends largely on contributions from community members in terms of time, resources, and knowledge. However, how individuals' knowledge contribution behavior changes over time and what network structural characteristics influence individuals' contribution behavior is not well understood. This study investigates "co-evolution" of social networks (i.e. advice network) and knowledge contribution behavior thorough a lens of social selection and social influence mechanism. This study are particularly interested in examining the dynamics of the advice network ties and the knowledge contribution behavior in the context of virtual financial communities in which people voluntarily participate to exchanges investing-related information. Unlike popular friendship-based online social networks, virtual financial communities in this study enables members to construct their own advice network by adding, maintaining, or terminating advice ties. Changes in network ties are referred to as social selection, while changes in individuals' behavior in response to the current network position are referred to as social influence. Dynamic network modeling is applied to investigate effects of social selection and influence separately and then examine the interplay between social selection and behavioral influence. Examination of such effects both separately and simultaneously requires a longitudinal data that capture dynamic changes in both the advice ties and the behavior under study.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The worldwide trend for systems is to become more complex. This leads to the need for new ways to control these complex systems. A relatively new approach for controlling systems, called on-line planning and control, poses many potential benefits to a variety of end-users, especially in the manufacturing environment. Davis [3J developed a framework for on-line planning and control that is currently incomplete. This project aims to fill one of the gaps in the framework by automating one of the functions, eliminating the need for a human observer. This function, the real-time compromise analysis function, does the comparison of the statistical performance estimates to select a control policy for implementation in the system being controlled (the realworld system) at the current moment in time. In this project, two techniques were developed to automate the function. The first technique is based on a common technique for statistically comparing two systems, the paired-t confidence interval technique. The paired-t confidence interval technique is used to compare the control policies by building confidence intervals of the expected differences for the respective performance criteria and testing the hypothesis that the statistical performance estimates of the one control policy are better than those of the other control policy. The results of these comparisons are then consolidated into a compromise function that is used to determine the control policy to be implemented currently in the real-world system. The second developed technique is derived, but differs greatly, from Davis's [3J dominance probability density function approach, and it includes principles of the paired-t confidence interval technique. It compares the control policies by determining the probability (confidence level) with which one can assume that the performance criterion of the one control policy will provide a performance value that is better than the other's and vie-ursa. These confidence levels are then aggregated into a single compromise function that is used to determine the control policy to be implemented currently in the real-world system. After the techniques were developed, it was not possible to determine their efficiency mathematically, because their statistical base is suspect. The techniques needed to be implemented before they could be evaluated and it was decided to develop an emulator of the on-line planning and control process in accordance with the framework given by Davis [3J to implement them. This Emulator is in essence a Visual Basic" program that uses Arena" models. However, this Emulator needed certain deviations from the framework to make it possible. Firstly, while the systems that will be controlled with the on-line planning and control process will be complex systems, the system controlled in the Emulator is only a straightforward MlM/l/FIFO/OO / 00 system. This allowed for the conditions that have not been addressed sufficiently, e.g. the initialising of the system models, to be bypassed. Secondly, the Emulator does not include all parts of the framework, and parts for which the technology does not currently exist have been excluded. Thirdly, the real-world system is replaced with a model, because a real-world system was not available for the study. Finally, concurrent operations are actually done sequentially, but in a way that makes it seem that they were done concurrently, as not to influence the results. This Emulator was used to analyse both techniques for two different traffic intensities. The first part of the analysis consisted of an off-line non-terminating analysis of the individual control policies of the system. This was used as a base line against which the on-line planning and control process of the Emulator was evaluated. The findings of the evaluations were that, at the traffic intensities evaluated, the techniques provided results that were very similar to the results of the best individual control. From these results, it was speculated that at different traffic intensities, different control policies would be better than the techniques themselves, while the techniques will only give slightly worse results. In addition, because the on-line planning and control process attempts to respond to changing conditions, it can be assumed that the techniques will excel in those conditions where the input distribution is changing continuously. It is also speculated that the techniques may be advantageous in cases where it is not possible to determine beforehand which of the individual control policies to use because it is impossible to predict the input distribution that will occur. It is expected that the techniques will give good (but unfortunately, not necessarily the best) results for any input distribution, while an individual control policy that may give the best results for one input distribution, may prove disastrous for another input distribution. Three important conclusions can be made from the project. Firstly, it is possible to automate the real-time compromise analysis function. Secondly, an emulator can be developed to evaluate the techniques for the real-time compromise analysis. The greatest advantage of this Emulator is that it can run significantly faster than real-time, enabling the generation of enough data to make the significant statistical comparisons needed to evaluate the techniques. The final conclusion is that while initial evaluations are inconclusive, it can be shown that the techniques warrant further study. Three important recommendations cart be made from the project. Firstly, the techniques need to be studied further, because they cannot be claimed to be perfect, or that they are the only possible techniques that will work. In fact, they are merely techniques that may work and other techniques may still prove to be better. Secondly, because it would be foolhardy to assume that the Emulator is complete, the Emulator needs to be improved with the most critical need to develop the Emulator in a programming language and simulation package that allows concurrent operations and effortless initialisation. This will enable the Emulator to be much faster and a lot more flexible. The final recommendation is that the techniques need to be evaluated with other parameters in other increasingly complex systems, culminating in the evaluation of the on-line planning and control process with the techniques included in a real-world flexible manufacturing system. Only then can there be decided conclusively on whether the techniques are efficient or not. It is hoped that this project will form a valuable building block that will facilitate making on-line planning and control a viable alternative to controlling complex systems, enabling them to respond better to changing conditions that are currently becoming the norm. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Wêreldwyd is stelsels besig om meer ingewikkeld te raak. Dit bring mee dat nuwe metodes benodig word om hierdie ingewikkelde stelsels te beheer. Gekoppelde beplanning en beheer ("On-line planning and control") is 'n relatiewe nuwe metode om stelsels te beheer en het baie moontlike voordele vir 'n verskeidenheid van gebruikers, veral in die vervaardigingsomgewing. Davis [3] het 'n raamwerk ontwikkel vir gekoppelde beplanning en beheer, maar die raamwerk is tans onvolledig. Hierdie projek het gepoog om een van die gapings in die raamwerk te vul deur een van die funksies te outomatiseer en sodoende die behoefte vir 'n menslike waarnemer te elimineer. Hierdie funksie, die intydse-kompromie-analise-funksie ("real-time compromise analysis function"), is verantwoordelik vir die vergelyking van die statistiese prestasieskattings om 'n beheerbeleid te kies wat geïmplementeer moet word in die stelsel wat beheer word (die regtewêreld -stelsel). Die projek het twee tegnieke ontwikkel om die funksie te outomatiseer. Die eerste tegniek is gebaseer op 'n algemene tegniek om twee stelsels statisties met mekaar te vergelyk, naamlik die gepaarde-t vertrouensinterval-tegniek. Die gepaarde-t vertrouensinterval-tegniek word gebruik om die beheerbeleide te vergelyk deur vertrouensintervalle te bou van die verwagte verskille vir die verskillende vertoningskriteria en om die hipotese te toets dat die statistiese prestasieskattings van die een beheerbeleid beter is as dié van 'n ander beheerbeleid. Die resultate van hierdie vergelykings word dan gekonsolideer in 'n kompromiefunksie wat gebruik word om te bepaal watter beheerbeleid tans geïmplementeer moet word in die regte-wêreld-stelsel. Die tweede ontwikkelde tegniek is afgelei, maar verskil baie, van Davis [3] se oorheersende waarskynlikheidsdigtheid-funksie ("dominance probability density function") -benadering en gebruik ook idees van die gepaarde-t vertrouensinterval-tegniek. Dit vergelyk die beheerbeleide deur die waarskynlikheid (vertrouensvlak) te bereken waarmee aanvaar kan word dat die vertoningskriterion van een van die beheerbeleide 'n beter vertoningswaarde sal hê as die ander, en omgekeerd. Hierdie vertrouensvlakke word dan gekonsolideer in 'n kompromiefunksie wat gebruik word om te bepaal watter beheerbeleid tans géimplementeer moet word in die regte wêreld stelsel. Nadat die tegnieke ontwikkel is, was dit nie moontlik om hulle effektiwiteit wiskundig te evalueer nie, want hulle statistiese basis is verdag. Dus moes die tegnieke geïmplementeer word voordat hulle geëvalueer kon word. Daar is besluit om 'n emuleerder van die proses van gekoppelde beplanning en beheer te ontwikkel volgens die raamwerk wat deur Davis [3] ontwikkel is sodat die tegnieke geïmplementeer kan word. Hierdie Emuleerder is 'n Visual Basic* program wat Arena" modelle gebruik. Om die Emuleerder moontlik te maak, was sekere afwykings van die raamwerk nodig. Die eerste hiervan is dat die stelsels wat beheer word met gekoppelde beplanning en beheer, komplekse stelsels is, maar dat die stelsel wat deur die Emuleerder beheer word, slegs 'n eenvoudige MIMI l/EIEBI 00 I 00 sisteem is. Dit maak dit moontlik om aspekte wat nog nie genoegsaam aangespreek is nie, byvoorbeeld die inisiëring van die stelselmodelle, te omseil. Tweedens bevat die Emuleerder nie al die dele van die raamwerk nie en dele waarvoor die tegnologie tans nog nie bestaan nie, is uitgelaat. Derdens, die regte wêreld stelsel is vervang met 'n model, want 'n regte wêreld stelsel was nie beskikbaar nie. Laastens is operasies wat eintlik gelyktydig gedoen moes word, sekwensieel gedoen, maar op so 'n marrier dat dit lyk asof hulle gelyktydig gedoen is, sodat die resultate nie beïnvloed word nie. Die Emuleerder is gebruik om beide tegnieke te analiseer vir twee verskillende verkeersdigthede. Die eerste deel van die analise het bestaan uit 'n nie-terminerende analise van die individuele beheerbeleide van die stelsel. Dit is gebruik as 'n basislyn waarteen die Emuleerder se proses van gekoppelde beplanning en beheer geëvalueer is. Die bevindinge van die evaluasie was dat vir die verkeersdigthede wat geëvalueer is, die tegnieke resultate lewer wat vergelykbaar is met die van die beste individuele beheerbeleide. Oor hierdie resultate is daar gespekuleer dat by verskillende verkeersdigthede, verskillende beheerbeleide beter sal vaar as die tegnieke, terwyl die tegnieke slegs marginale swakker resultate sal lewer. En omdat gekoppelde beplanning en beheer poog om te reageer op veranderende omstandighede, kan dit aanvaar word dat die tegnieke sal presteer in omstandighede waar die toevoerverdeling die heeltyd verander. Dit word ook beweer dat die tegnieke tot voordeel sal wees in gevalle waar dit nie moontlik is om vooraf te bepaal watter van die individuele beheerbeleide om te gebruik nie, omdat dit onmoontlik is om te voorspel watter toevoerverdeling gerealiseer gaan word. Dit word verwag dat die tegnieke goeie (maar ongelukkig nie noodwendig die beste nie) resultate saliewer vir enige toevoerverdeling, terwyl 'n individuele beheerbeleid wat moontlik die beste resultate vir die een toevoerverdeling sal gee, katastrofies kan wees vir 'n ander toevoerverdeling. Drie belangrike gevolgtrekkings kan gemaak word van die projek. Eerstens, dit is moontlik om die intydse-komprornie-analise-funksie te outomatiseer. Tweedens, 'n emuleerder kan ontwikkel word om die tegnieke vir die intydse-komprornie-analise te evalueer. Die grootste voordeel van die Emuleerder is dat dit heelwat vinniger as reële tyd kan opereer, wat dit moontlik maak om genoeg data te genereer om die betekenisvolle statistiese vergelykings te maak wat benodig word om die tegnieke te evalueer. Die laaste gevolgtrekking is dat, alhoewel die aanvanklike evaluasie nie beslissend is nie, dit gewys kan word dat die tegnieke verdere studie verdien. Drie belangrike aanbevelings kan gemaak word vanuit die projek. Eerstens, die tegnieke moet nog verder bestudeer word, omdat daar nie beweer kan word dat hulle perfek is of dat hulle die enigste tegnieke is wat kan werk nie. Om die waarheid te sê, hulle is slegs tegnieke wat moontlik kan werk en ander tegnieke kan steeds bewys word om beter te wees. Tweedens sou dit onsinnig wees om te beweer dat die Emuleerder volledig is, en moet die Emuleerder nog verbeter word. Die mees kritiese vereiste is om die Emuleerder te ontwikkel in 'n programmeringstaal en simulasiepakket wat gelyktydige operasies en moeitelose inisiëring toelaat. Dit sal die Emuleerder toelaat om baie vinniger en meer buigsaam te wees. Die laaste aanbeveling is dat die tegnieke geëvalueer moet word met ander parameters in ander stelsels van stygende kompleksiteit, wat die hoogtepunt bereik in die evaluasie van die proses van gekoppelde beplanning en beheer met die tegnieke ingesluit in 'n regte-wêreld buigbare vervaardigingstelsel ("flexible manufacturing system"). Slegs dan sal dit moontlik wees om onomwonde te sê of die tegnieke effektief is of nie. Daar word gehoop dat hierdie projek 'n waardevolle boublok sal vorm wat sal bydra om gekoppelde beplanning en beheer 'n uitvoerbare alternatief te maak vir die beheer van komplekse stelsels, omdat dit hulle sal toelaat om beter te reageer op die veranderende omstandighede wat deesdae die norm is.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Information System Success Evaluation has been a concept of interest to many organizations for decades now. The main motivation for this activity is usually from the financial view of things, that is, the main interest of an organization carrying out IS success evaluation is mainly to find out whether investing in such a system was a good business decision. This question is often answered by the realization of the direct and indirect benefits realized by deployment of using such a system. Like many organizations the government of Botswana has invested millions of Pula’s in the past number of years in acquiring and implementing different Information Systems in the various Ministries and Departments. One such system is the Vehicle Registration and Licensing System, which was deployed by the Department of Roads Transport and Safety of the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication. After the VRLS implementation there has not been any formal scientific research or investigation conducted to find out the success of this Information System, especially with regards to the stakeholders who use this system for their daily jobs. This study therefore engaged in a task, which evaluated the success of the Vehicle Registration and Licensing System and answered the question of how effective the system is from the user’s point of view. A well-known Information System success evaluation model, known as the Delone and McLean IS evaluation model, was applied to test the hypothesis of this research. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the research data. The results were analyzed using a common research tool, the SPSS, including cross tabulation and chisquare tests. The findings of this study will further enrich the IS success evaluation Body of Knowledge on the key factors which can contribute to a successful or unsuccessful Information System acquisition investment. Furthermore, the researchers who will further look into this subject may find these findings very useful and also stimulating to do further research on this subject to unveil further evidence of the ingredients of an effective Information System investment which has been accepted by and accredited by its users. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Inligtingstelselsuksesevaluering is ‘n konsep wat baie organisasies nou al vir dekades interesseer. Die motivering hiervoor is hoofsaaklik geleë in finansiële redes. Organisasies wil hiermee vasstel of dit ‘n goeie besigheidsbesluit was. Hierdie vraag word dan dikwels beantwoord deur die verkryging van direkte en indirekte voordele deur gebruik te maak van so ‘n stelsel. Soos baie organisasies het die regering van Botswana miljoene pula belê in die implementering van inligtingstelsels in verskeie staatsdepartemente. Die Voertuigregistrasie en Lisensiestelsel is ‘n voorbeeld hiervan wat deur die Departement van Padvervoer en -Veiligheid van die Ministerie van Werke, Vervoer en Kommunikasie ontplooi is. Geen formele wetenskaplike navorsing is geloods na afloop van die implementering van die stelsel nie, veral nie sedert die gebruik deur motoriste nie. Hierdie studie poog juis om die effektiwiteit van die stelsel te meet, veral vanuit die verbruiker se perspektief. Die Delone en Mclean Inligtingstelselevalueringsmodel word gebruik om die hipotese van die navorsing te toets. ‘n Gestruktureerde vraelys is opgestel om data te versamel. Die SPSS as ‘n algemene navorsingsinstrument is gebruik vir analise, asook vir kruistabulasie en chikwadraattoetse. Die bevindinge van die studie sal die korpus van kennis van inligtingstelselsuksesevaluering verryk ten opsigte van die sleutelfaktore wat kan bydra tot die sukses of nie-sukses van inligtingstelselimplementering. Verdere studie in hierdie betrokke gebied word deur die navorsing gestimuleer, om veral die effektiwiteit van Inligtingstelselbeleggings te bepaal.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-02-15Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:29:50Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 jorge_dm_me_bauru.pdf: 811904 bytes, checksum: 000d64e0459153b4ae32c80eb5a6411e (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / As atividades de agricultura e pecuária têm ampliado cada dia mais sua importância e participação na economia brasileira especialmente no que tange à balança de exportações do país, bem como a evolução tecnológica no campo, que também tem se ampliado ao longo dos anos e diversos produtores rurais passaram a utilizar softwares no controle informatizado de sua produção. Entretanto, a qualidade dos softwares utilizados é um fator preponderante tanto na escolha e aquisição deste produto quanto na sua utilização, requerendo atenção especial. Diante desse panorama e da existência de normatizações acerca da Qualidade de Software (produto e processo), o objetivo dessa pesquisa é verificar junto aos produtores rurais quais suas necessidades em relação aos atributos da qualidade de produto de software definidos pela norma NBR/ISO 9126. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de natureza exploratória qualitativa, em que os dados colhidos por meio de questionário fazem a aplicação do Grau de Importância atribuído pelos produtores à cada uma das subcaracterísticas de qualidade interna e externa de software. Verifica-se, após a análise dos resultados, que das 27 subcaracterísticas estudadas, apenas 8 delas foram classificadas com grau de importância maior do 4,0 sendo que estas estão associadas apenas à quatro das seis características apresentadas pela norma: funcionalidade, confiabilidade, usabilidade e eficiência / The agriculture and livestock activities have increasingly expanded their importance and participation in the Brazilian economy especially in regard to the balance of exports, as well as technological developments in the field, which has also expanded over the years. Consequently, many farmers began to use computer software to control its production. However, the quality of the software used is a preponderant factor in both the choise and purchase of this product and in their use, requiring special attention. Against this background and the existence of norms on Software Quality (product and process), the objective of this research is to check with the farmers what their needs regarding the quality attributes of software product defined by the NBR/ISO 9126. This is an exploratory qualitative research, in which the data collected through a questionnaire with farmers make the application of the Degree of Importance for each subcharacteristics quality internal and external software. It was concluded, after reviewing the results of 27 subcharacteristics studied, only eight of them were classified as degree of importance greater than 4.0, amd these are associated only four of the six features presented by the norm: Functionality, Reability, Usability and Efficiency

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011. / The adoption of Enterprise Architecture (EA) methodologies within organizations is causing an interest in the methodologies and supporting technologies available. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) supports EA in many facets. However, there is much suspension with regard to the relationship between EA and SOA within organizations as well as the guidelines that organisations should follow in order for SOA to enable EA. There are potential problems that may arise if this relationship between SOA and EA is not agreed to at the outset of implementing an EA. The purpose of this research is to investigate the guidelines that are needed for SOA to enable EA, in order to provide practical steps that organisations can use to begin aligning SOA and EA, ensuring that these initiatives are driven from a business perspective. A qualitative approach using a case study was used as a methodology for this research. The data collection was conducted using semi-structured interviews, and the guidelines that were derived were validated through a survey that was distributed to industry architecture practitioners. The contribution of this research was a set of guidelines that can be used for SOA to enable EA. Further research areas were highlighted, including investigating the mapping of the guidelines that were derived from this research, into the EA frameworks that exist such as TOGAF and ZACHMAN.

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / The failure to rationalise business processes and Information Technology (IT) systems inhibits the ability of organisations to capitalise and create synergies for a merger. Rationalisation of business processes to create a unified Information Systems (IS) portfolio plays a significant role in the success of a merger. The synergies of a merger are entrenched in the rationalisation business processes where the creation of a unified IS portfolio becomes vital. The consolidation of business units performing similar business functions in a horisontal merger creates a negative physiological environment to those affected by the change. A case study of a merged financial institution was conducted where the research explored factors affecting the rationalisation of business processes and IT systems when business units merge. The research questions to explore the factors are: 1) What are the factors affecting the business process and IT systems rationalisation when business units merge? 2) How does the rationalisation of business processes affect the IT systems in the merged financial institution?Politics and cultural differences are among the challenges experienced during the rationalisation process in the merged financial institution. Collaboration among professionals is important to ensure the success of IS implementation, thus corporate executives need to identify cultural differences during the pre-merger stage. The IT system chosen to consolidate legacy mainframe systems did not align with the organisation’s client centric strategy. Alignment can be strengthened by the collaboration of business and IT to ensure a common vision is achieved.

Orientador: Renato de Campos / Banca: Ricardo Cesar Gonçalves Santana / Banca: Otávio José de Oliveira / Resumo: As atividades de agricultura e pecuária têm ampliado cada dia mais sua importância e participação na economia brasileira especialmente no que tange à balança de exportações do país, bem como a evolução tecnológica no campo, que também tem se ampliado ao longo dos anos e diversos produtores rurais passaram a utilizar softwares no controle informatizado de sua produção. Entretanto, a qualidade dos softwares utilizados é um fator preponderante tanto na escolha e aquisição deste produto quanto na sua utilização, requerendo atenção especial. Diante desse panorama e da existência de normatizações acerca da Qualidade de Software (produto e processo), o objetivo dessa pesquisa é verificar junto aos produtores rurais quais suas necessidades em relação aos atributos da qualidade de produto de software definidos pela norma NBR/ISO 9126. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de natureza exploratória qualitativa, em que os dados colhidos por meio de questionário fazem a aplicação do Grau de Importância atribuído pelos produtores à cada uma das subcaracterísticas de qualidade interna e externa de software. Verifica-se, após a análise dos resultados, que das 27 subcaracterísticas estudadas, apenas 8 delas foram classificadas com grau de importância maior do 4,0 sendo que estas estão associadas apenas à quatro das seis características apresentadas pela norma: funcionalidade, confiabilidade, usabilidade e eficiência / Abstract: The agriculture and livestock activities have increasingly expanded their importance and participation in the Brazilian economy especially in regard to the balance of exports, as well as technological developments in the field, which has also expanded over the years. Consequently, many farmers began to use computer software to control its production. However, the quality of the software used is a preponderant factor in both the choise and purchase of this product and in their use, requiring special attention. Against this background and the existence of norms on Software Quality (product and process), the objective of this research is to check with the farmers what their needs regarding the quality attributes of software product defined by the NBR/ISO 9126. This is an exploratory qualitative research, in which the data collected through a questionnaire with farmers make the application of the Degree of Importance for each subcharacteristics quality internal and external software. It was concluded, after reviewing the results of 27 subcharacteristics studied, only eight of them were classified as degree of importance greater than 4.0, amd these are associated only four of the six features presented by the norm: Functionality, Reability, Usability and Efficiency / Mestre

M.Com. (Business Management) / Data and the use thereof, is considered to be a source of competitive advantage for organisations. In order to achieve this it needs to be managed appropriately, and existing literature considers enterprise information management (EIM) to be the foundation for organisations to manage information successfully. (For the purposes of this dissertation, data and information will be treated as analogous concepts.) Key contributing factors to the success of EIM have been identified as ensuring data governance is in place, and that there is a focus on data quality. Within EIM, a key set of data that must be managed effectively is customer data. In many organisations – including the financial services organisation that is the focus of this study – customer data is held in disparate systems across the organisation. Creating a single view of how customers interact with an organisation is deemed of crucial importance for future organisational growth, and the initiatives that organisations undertake to create this view is referred to in the literature as customer data integration (CDI). In order for CDI to be successful, master data management (MDM) needs to be addressed; this will ensure that core data is managed consistently across the disparate systems. This study sought to determine how the concepts of EIM, CDI and MDM were being applied in the organisation under review, and how closely this application matched the recommendations of the literature. In addition, the study sought to uncover additional factors that had an impact on customer data integration, and information management in general, in the organisation. What was found is that in the organisation in question, how information management is being addressed is consistent with the literature in some areas – primarily the importance of a single view of customer and the supporting roles of information governance and data quality – but divergent in others, the key area being that there is no EIM strategy in the organisation that drives a consolidated approach to information management. Organisational culture was also highlighted by the literature as being a critical influencer on how information is managed, and this was supported by the findings. Additional factors that were found to have a significant influence on data management – which were not highlighted by the literature – included the importance of processes, and especially for CDI the critical role played by legislation, in particular the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA). An additional crucial factor, again not highlighted by the literature, is the difficulty organisations have in placing an actual financial value on the use of information. Although intrinsically it is understood that information is valuable, the difficulty in ascribing an explicit value to it is a key inhibitor (in conjunction with organisational culture), to the organisation initiating data management projects at a strategic level, and instead having to address data management as a component of projects driven by individual business units.

Information security is crucial to the continuous well-being of modern orga- nizations. Humans play a signfiicant role in the processes needed to secure an organization's information resources. Without an adequate level of user co-operation and knowledge, many security techniques are liable to be misused or misinterpreted by users. This may result in an adequate security measure becoming inadequate. It is therefor necessary to educate the orga- nization's employees regarding information security and also to establish a corporate sub-culture of information security in the organization, which will ensure that the employees have the correct attitude towards their security responsibilities. Current information security education programs fails to pay su±cient attention to the behavioral sciences. There also exist a lack of knowledge regarding the principles, and processes, that would be needed for the establishment of an corporate sub-culture, specific to information security. Without both the necessary knowledge, and the desired attitude amongst the employee, it will be impossible to guarantee that the organi- zation's information resources are secure. It would therefor make sense to address both these dimensions to the human factor in information security, using a single integrated, holistic approach. This dissertation presents such an approach, which is based on an integration of sound behavioral theories.

There is considerable evidence that the strategic use of Information Systems can lead to a competitive advantage. There is however, a marked lack of understanding of the options available, as well as the smooth coordination of Information Systems strategy with Business strategy. This paper provides insight into the role of Information Systems and its link with business strategy. It focuses on Information Systems strategy options, and explores the criteria needed for successful Information Systems strategy and Business strategy alignment. The paper presents and examines the results of a study of strategic alignment at Volkswagen of South Africa. Data was obtained from business and Information Technology executives. The result of the study enables Volkswagen not only to benchmark themselves, but also provides direction to enable successful business/IT alignment. It identifies specific actions necessary to ensure that IT is being used to appropriately enable or drive the business strategy.