The research reported in this thesis was an exploratory study that investigated the relationship between Information Systems (IS) investment and organisational performance and which led to the successfd development and testing of a combined process and variance model that sought to explain this complex relationship. The focal industry was the Australian Financial Services Sector (FSS), with samples being drawn from both the credit union industry (largest industry by size in the FSS) and the commercial/retail bank industry (largest industry by volume). The research began with a detailed review of the literature and thus explored the concepts underlying the business value of IS in general and the relationship between IS investment and organisational performance in particular. To fuaher enhance understanding of this literature, a meta-analysis of the business value of IS in general, and IS investment and organisational performance in particular, was undertaken as it was noted that there did not appear to have been any such formal structured meta-analyses to date. The foregoing analyses led to the proposal and development of a conceptual model of the relationship between IS investment and organisational performance that was comprised of four main components, the level of IS investment as represented by the IT portfolio, Organisational performance (both internal and external), Considerations for Strategic Information Systems Planning and Managerial effectiveness. In addition, the conceptual model explicitly considered the effect and impact of Context on the conceptual model. Further, analysis of subsequent results was strongly grounded in the literature and utilised three key theoretical foundations, General Systems Theory, The Resource Based View of IT and Stakeholder theory. / Thus, the conceptual model was developed and tested utilising a pluralist approach combining two research methods, a) Case research (model development and testing) and b) survey research (model refinement). The collection (and analysis) of data was achieved in two parts. First, given the complexity of the issues under investigation, a unique case study protocol was successfully developed and applied to a select group of Financial Institutions with the Commercial/retail Banking and Credit Union industries to confirm the components of the original conceptual model. Second, the resultant model(s) were tested via a survey targeted at the wider population of Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions in the Australian Financial Services Sector. The outcomes of this research were many, however the most notable were; 1) the development and testing of the conceptual model which were deemed to contribute to the development of theory within the discipline of Information Systems, 2) the development of a unique case study protocol that was deemed to contribute to IS research in general, 3) the derivation of a set of intermediary variables (Customer service quality, Operational efficiency, Staff and Product delivery) that was found to influence the relationship between IS investment and organisational performance and therefore extended and strengthened the conceptual model, and 4) the meta-analysis that was deemed to contribute to a better understanding of the state of the art with respect to research into this complex phenomenon.

As condições desafiadoras enfrentadas pelas empresas no atual cenário econômico e político, aliadas às rápidas mudanças na qual a tecnologia de informação se insere, exigem a maximização do uso dos escassos recursos como forma de sobreviver no mercado. No caso específico das empresas estatais, a motivação primordial é reduzir o desperdício dos recursos públicos, através do seu uso racional. A Governança de TI surgiu como subconjunto da Governança Corporativa e sob a influência do Planejamento Estratégico de Sistemas de Informação. A Governança de TI é o alinhamento estratégico da TI com o negócio, para que o máximo de valor de negócio seja alcançado. O objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar a abordagem da Governança de TI existente em uma empresa estatal fornecedora de bens e serviços de TI para o governo estadual. Através de um estudo de caso exploratório concluiu-se que a empresa possui traços da Administração Pública Burocrática, como a hierarquia funcional, o formalismo e a presença de fortes controles administrativos. A mudança do corpo diretivo a cada quatro anos, devida à troca de governo, introduz novas diretrizes e novos funcionários não-permanentes com estratégias diferentes da administração anterior. Não foi encontrada uma estrutura de decisões permanente capaz de resistir às oscilações da política governamental. A mudança do cenário político influencia a estrutura de poder interna da organização, numa intensidade além do que seria esperado se existisse um mecanismo de decisões consolidado. / Challenging conditions in business and political landscape in which enterprises are inserted, allied to information technology fast diversity of changes, demand actual maximization of scarce resources in order to survive in market. Similarly, in governmental enterprise environment, the prime motivation is to reduce public resources waste through its rational use. IT Governance emerged as a subset of Corporate Governance and under the influence of Information Systems Strategic Planning. IT Governance is the strategic alignment of IT and Business to achieve maximum business value. This study aims to analyze the existing IT Governance approach in a governmental enterprise that provides IT products and services for a state government. Through an exploratory case study one concluded that the enterprise has traces of the Bureaucratic Public Administration, as functional hierarchy, formalism and the presence of strong administrative controls. The every four year board change, due to government changes, introduces new guidelines and new non-permanent employees with different strategies from those of former administration. A permanent decision structure capable of resisting to governmental politics oscillations hasn’t been found in the enterprise environment. Political scene change biases the organization internal power structure in intensity beyond the one that would be expected if there was a consolidated decision mechanism.

As condições desafiadoras enfrentadas pelas empresas no atual cenário econômico e político, aliadas às rápidas mudanças na qual a tecnologia de informação se insere, exigem a maximização do uso dos escassos recursos como forma de sobreviver no mercado. No caso específico das empresas estatais, a motivação primordial é reduzir o desperdício dos recursos públicos, através do seu uso racional. A Governança de TI surgiu como subconjunto da Governança Corporativa e sob a influência do Planejamento Estratégico de Sistemas de Informação. A Governança de TI é o alinhamento estratégico da TI com o negócio, para que o máximo de valor de negócio seja alcançado. O objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar a abordagem da Governança de TI existente em uma empresa estatal fornecedora de bens e serviços de TI para o governo estadual. Através de um estudo de caso exploratório concluiu-se que a empresa possui traços da Administração Pública Burocrática, como a hierarquia funcional, o formalismo e a presença de fortes controles administrativos. A mudança do corpo diretivo a cada quatro anos, devida à troca de governo, introduz novas diretrizes e novos funcionários não-permanentes com estratégias diferentes da administração anterior. Não foi encontrada uma estrutura de decisões permanente capaz de resistir às oscilações da política governamental. A mudança do cenário político influencia a estrutura de poder interna da organização, numa intensidade além do que seria esperado se existisse um mecanismo de decisões consolidado. / Challenging conditions in business and political landscape in which enterprises are inserted, allied to information technology fast diversity of changes, demand actual maximization of scarce resources in order to survive in market. Similarly, in governmental enterprise environment, the prime motivation is to reduce public resources waste through its rational use. IT Governance emerged as a subset of Corporate Governance and under the influence of Information Systems Strategic Planning. IT Governance is the strategic alignment of IT and Business to achieve maximum business value. This study aims to analyze the existing IT Governance approach in a governmental enterprise that provides IT products and services for a state government. Through an exploratory case study one concluded that the enterprise has traces of the Bureaucratic Public Administration, as functional hierarchy, formalism and the presence of strong administrative controls. The every four year board change, due to government changes, introduces new guidelines and new non-permanent employees with different strategies from those of former administration. A permanent decision structure capable of resisting to governmental politics oscillations hasn’t been found in the enterprise environment. Political scene change biases the organization internal power structure in intensity beyond the one that would be expected if there was a consolidated decision mechanism.

As condições desafiadoras enfrentadas pelas empresas no atual cenário econômico e político, aliadas às rápidas mudanças na qual a tecnologia de informação se insere, exigem a maximização do uso dos escassos recursos como forma de sobreviver no mercado. No caso específico das empresas estatais, a motivação primordial é reduzir o desperdício dos recursos públicos, através do seu uso racional. A Governança de TI surgiu como subconjunto da Governança Corporativa e sob a influência do Planejamento Estratégico de Sistemas de Informação. A Governança de TI é o alinhamento estratégico da TI com o negócio, para que o máximo de valor de negócio seja alcançado. O objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar a abordagem da Governança de TI existente em uma empresa estatal fornecedora de bens e serviços de TI para o governo estadual. Através de um estudo de caso exploratório concluiu-se que a empresa possui traços da Administração Pública Burocrática, como a hierarquia funcional, o formalismo e a presença de fortes controles administrativos. A mudança do corpo diretivo a cada quatro anos, devida à troca de governo, introduz novas diretrizes e novos funcionários não-permanentes com estratégias diferentes da administração anterior. Não foi encontrada uma estrutura de decisões permanente capaz de resistir às oscilações da política governamental. A mudança do cenário político influencia a estrutura de poder interna da organização, numa intensidade além do que seria esperado se existisse um mecanismo de decisões consolidado. / Challenging conditions in business and political landscape in which enterprises are inserted, allied to information technology fast diversity of changes, demand actual maximization of scarce resources in order to survive in market. Similarly, in governmental enterprise environment, the prime motivation is to reduce public resources waste through its rational use. IT Governance emerged as a subset of Corporate Governance and under the influence of Information Systems Strategic Planning. IT Governance is the strategic alignment of IT and Business to achieve maximum business value. This study aims to analyze the existing IT Governance approach in a governmental enterprise that provides IT products and services for a state government. Through an exploratory case study one concluded that the enterprise has traces of the Bureaucratic Public Administration, as functional hierarchy, formalism and the presence of strong administrative controls. The every four year board change, due to government changes, introduces new guidelines and new non-permanent employees with different strategies from those of former administration. A permanent decision structure capable of resisting to governmental politics oscillations hasn’t been found in the enterprise environment. Political scene change biases the organization internal power structure in intensity beyond the one that would be expected if there was a consolidated decision mechanism.

Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) is an important activity for helping Chief Information Executives (CIOs) and top management identify strategic applications and align Information Technology (IT) with business needs. Like all strategic planning, SISP requires measuring how well SISP is done and how planning is improving over time. The measurement of these intangibles is a complex exercise. There have been few efforts undertaken in the Information Systems (IS) literature to formally develop a model for assessing and measuring SISP efforts. In this study, two models were proposed: a five-stage SISP maturity model for defining SISP maturity and another one for assessing the degree of SISP maturity. The five SISP maturity levels were defined as: Rudimentary Planning, Ineffectual Planning, Attainable Planning, Sustainable Planning, and Adaptable Planning. The assessment model was structured as a third-order system, where eight first-order dimensions were termed as Form and Content, Collaboration, Policies, Stakeholders' Designation, Knowledge Bank, Technology, Time Dimension, and Viability. The first-order dimensions were grouped into three second-order constructs, namely Effectiveness, Efficiency and Manoeuvrability, which ultimately characterise the level of SISP success. This model was used to establish a theoretical benchmark for each SISP maturity level. To model the level of SISP maturity, an 'Integral Engineering' approach was established and the Analytic Network Process (ANP) theory was used. The study is a novel approach in using ANP to synthesize the measures of the various SISP constructs into a single overall measure of SISP maturity level. A survey was performed and data collected from 260 Australian organisations to examine the degree of SISP maturity and the relationships among SISP constructs. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the fit between the hypothesized model and the survey data The models were applied to the data collected and the findings suggested that the models fit the data well. While Effectiveness and Efficiency are well recognised planning constructs, Manoeuvrability as a measure of planning dynamics is not acknowledged in the literature as an equally important construct. This study confirmed a strong correlation between Manoeuvrability and SISP success and found it to be more important than the Efficiency construct. The empirical data did not confirm the existence of Rudimentary and Ineffectual planning levels of SISP maturity Australia-wide. SISP maturity in the majority of Australian organisations is at Sustainable and Attainable planning levels. A small percentage of the surveyed organisations have actually reached the highest planning level (Adaptable planning). The empirical data showed that current SISP is lacking strategic dimension and that the recently popularised one-year planning horizon may not be the best choice. Australian organisations did not consider the strategic relevance of IT as the key objective. IT/IS was seen as a business enabler, thus the strategic advan tage associated with IT came as a secondary objective.

Magister Commercii - MCom / Impact of data quality on utilisation and perceived usefulness of integrated Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS). Integrated HR Information systems have become prevalent in modern organisations. These systems promise operational efficiencies and competitive advantage. In order to deliver these benefits, the systems should be effectively utilised and perceived as a useful business tools. The utilisation and perceived usefulness of the HRIS could be influenced by quality of data it produces. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of data quality on the utilisation and usefulness of the HRIS. The aim was to ensure that organisations realise their investments in HRIS. This would be achieved by improving qualities that ensures effective utilisation of HRIS. Moreover, the study sought to enhance the body of academic knowledge in HRIS as far data quality is concerned. Mixed research method was used to meet the objectives of the study. Survey research and qualitative interviews techniques were employed. Statistical and deductive analysis was applied to raw data in order to draw conclusions. The study found that data quality positively influence utilisation and usefulness of HRIS. Moreover, findings revealed that the HRIS was predominantly used for operational, rather than strategic tasks. HRIS data is also not generally perceived to be of poor quality. HR practitioners emphasise accuracy over other quality dimensions. Organisations that seek to maximise their investment in HRIS should implement data quality improvement initiatives. This will ensure that the system is effectively utilised and produces high quality information for decision-making. This could lead to competitive advantage. Further research could be undertaken to understand; success factors for HRIS data quality initiatives, determinants of HRIS user satisfaction, drivers for dedicated HRIS management roles and the impact of having HRIS manager among others.

由於資訊科技具有策略上的價值，結合資訊系統與組織策略的策略資訊系統也日漸受到組織高層重視。策略資訊系統應用的目的，不只是提供市場更多元的產品與迅速的服務，甚至可以重新定義產業競爭的方式使得組織從中獲利。而良好的策略資訊系統規劃，才可以真正讓組織從資訊科技的應用中獲得競爭優勢。 本研究主要探討如何在策略資訊系統規劃過程中整合CEO與CIO的觀點。本研究由文獻中整理策略資訊系統規劃所應該具備的要素並評量12個SISP方法對於要素的支援情形。然後探討SISP過程中相關的決策議題，包括權力、政治行為、衝突與協商，以及漸近式的決策形成過程。以文獻為基礎所建構的觀點整合資訊規劃方法中，將可以發現CEO與CIO兩人的觀點其實是具有相當多的分歧存在。本研究並利用動態網頁的技術，以IC製造業公司的資料為例，建構一套可行的雛型系統以輔助SISP方法之應用。 / Information technology is valuable in strategic way. So, the top management of organizations has paid more attentions to Strategic Information Systems (SIS) that link information strategy with organizational strategy. The purpose of the use of SIS is not only to offer new services, but also to redefine the way of competition. A good Strategic Information Systems Plarniing (SISP) can help the organizations take competitive advantages by the information technology. The purpose of this research is to study the issues of the different views of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Information Officer (CIO) in the process of SISP. After reviewing the literature, we have established the key characteristics of SISP and evaluated 12 SISP methods accordingly. Then, we study the human issues of the SISP process including power, political behavior, conflict and negotiation, and incrernantalism. On the base of these studies, a View Integrated SISP method has been proposed. This method emphasis on the different views of CEO and CIO. A prototype system (VICAS) in WWW has been implemented. Some testing data from an integrated circuit manufactory company has been tried.

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The improvement of SISP practices has rapidly become one of the most critical issues facing many organisations, including banks. Globally, the banking sectors, including the Saudi one, have developed and implemented many IS strategies. Several systems have been executed to support the countries’ economies which have benefited from the increased trading resulting from the greater flexibility in time and costs associated with banking transactions. To continue these achievements and to improve SISP processes, several factors require careful investigation based on their relationship to SISP success; which include SISP objectives, SISP internal factors, external consultant functions, SISP external factors, measurements of SISP success, key stakeholders’ roles, and triggers. Therefore this study investigates the impact of these factors on SISP success. Data were collected in three phases. Phase 1 was an initial study with one or two interviews with the IT directors of each bank in the Saudi banking sector comprising the central bank and 11 commercial banks. The outcomes informed the development of a survey that was used in Phase 2; to investigate a sample containing a central bank, a domestic commercial bank and a domestic-foreign commercial bank to determine their SISP processes. 157 completed questionnaires were returned from the bank executives, business and IT directors and consultants. In Phase 3, 57 interviews confirmed and explained the quantitative results from Phase 2. Therefore, an in-depth case study was made in the three banks during Phases 2 and 3. The research results support previous findings on the SISP’s seventeen objectives collected by several researchers across different industries and in various countries. Furthermore, the research condenses these seventeen objectives into five more practical and achievable objectives for the banking sector. These are: 1) planning and deployment of information systems; 2) leading organisation changes; 3) improving stakeholders’ involvement and communication; 4) achieving the strategic priorities; and 5) alignment of organisational policies and architecture for business and IS. In addition, the findings identify the factors according to their relationship with SISP success and therefore explore several elements with positive, negative or no impact on SISP success in the banking sector. The thesis presents conclusions and suggests areas for further research.