The rapid growth in the use of wireless communication and portable devices in recent years has created a great potential for a variety of mobile work technology support. However, we still lack the theories to explore the nature of mobile work, examine the needs for mobile work support, and identify the appropriate mobile technologies for various kinds of mobile work. This study is an attempt to meet the challenge. A mobile task model is proposed in this study which includes four dimensions: task complexity, task interdependence, time criticality, and location sensitivity. New instruments are developed to measure the constructs of time criticality and location sensitivity. Six typical mobile work support functions are examined: mobile communication, mobile information searching, mobile transaction processing, location related service, mobile job dispatching and mobile office. In light of contingency theory and attitude/behavioral theory, a research model is proposed to identify the ideal fit between task characteristics and typical mobile work support functions. Based on empirical data from real mobile workers, the nature of mobile work and the differences in mobile work between mobile knowledge workers and field workers are analysed. New instruments for the time and location related constructs are validated through the empirical data. The differences in perceived usefulness of the typical mobile work support functions between mobile knowledge workers and field workers are presented, as well as those of the current usage and intention to use. Finally, the ideal fit is identified on the basis of the empirical data. This study contributes both to theory and practice. The establishment of a mobile task model, including the development of new instruments for time and location constructs, provides a foundation for future mobile business research. The identification of the ideal fit between task characteristics and mobile technology functions, based on contingency theory and attitude/behavioral theory, extends and enriches mobile business research. The results of the study can provide guidance and recommendations on how to strategically plan and implement suitable mobile applications, and to identify opportunities for the development of appropriate technological solutions for mobile work support. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Service providers have long recognized that their customers play a vital role in the service delivery process since they are not only recipients but also producers, or co-producers, of the service delivered. Moreover, in the particular context of self-service technology (SST) offerings, it is widely recognized that customers’ knowledge, skills and abilities in co-producing the service are key determinants of the services’ adoption and usage. However, despite the importance of customers’ capabilities, prior research has not yet paid much attention to the mechanisms by which service providers can influence them and, in turn, how the providers’ efforts affect customers’ use of the service. This dissertation addresses research questions associated with the role of a provider’s technology support and education in influencing customer use of an SST, namely public cloud computing infrastructure services. The unique datasets used to answer these research questions were collected from one of the major global providers in the cloud infrastructure services industry. This research context offers an excellent opportunity to study the role of technology support since, when adapting the standardized and commoditized components of the cloud service to their individual needs, customers may face important co-production costs that can be mitigated by the provider’s assistance. Specifically, customers must configure their computing servers and deploy their software applications on their own, relying on their own capabilities. Moreover, the cloud’s offering of on-demand computing servers through a fully pay-per-use model allows us to directly observe variation in the actual use customers make of the service. The first study of this dissertation examines how varying levels of technology support, which differ in the level of participation and assistance of the provider in customers’ service co-production process, influence the use that customers make of the service. The study matches and compares 20,179 firms that used the service between March 2009 and August 2012, and who over time accessed one of the two levels of support available: full and basic. Using fixed effects panel data models and a difference-in-difference identification strategy, we find that customers who have access to full support or accessed it in the past use (i.e., consume) more of the service than customers who have only accessed basic support. Moreover, the provider’s involvement in the co-production process is complementary with firm size in the sense that larger firms use more of the service than smaller ones if they upgrade from basic to full support. Finally, the provider’s co-participation through full support also has a positive influence on the effectiveness with which buyers make use of the service. Firms that access full support are more likely to deploy computing architectures that leverage on the cloud’s advanced features. The second study examines the value of early proactive education, which is defined as any provider-initiated effort to increase its customers’ service co-production related knowledge and skills immediately after service adoption. The study analyzes the outcome of a field experiment executed by the provider between October and November 2011, during which 366 randomly-selected customers out of 2,673 customers that adopted during the field experiment period received early proactive education treatment. The treatment consisted in a short phone call followed up by a support ticket through which the provider offered initial guidance on how to use the basic features of the service. We use survival analysis (i.e., hazard models) to compare the treatment’s effect on customer retention, and find that it reduces by half the number of customers who leave the service offering during the first week. We also use count data models to examine the treatment’s effect on customers’ demand for technology support, and find that the treated customers ask about 19.55% fewer questions during the first week of their lifetimes than the controls.

This study sought to determine customer satisfaction levels of faculty and staff with their technology support office in a large university in Florida. The focus of research was to determine if there were any differences in customer satisfaction based on four demographics: gender, faculty versus staff, educational level and age. An anonymous customer satisfaction survey included 26 Likert-type scale questions measuring 16 service quality dimensions was administered to the population. The 16 service quality dimensions included 10 dimensions from Zeithaml et al. (1990), five dimensions from Besterfield et al. (1995, 2003), and one dimension, overall satisfaction. Findings showed there was a statistically significant difference in two demographics, gender and faculty versus staff. Regarding gender, there were no differences in 14 of 16 dimensions examined. The two dimensions with differences were tangibles and understanding the customer, with males having lower customer satisfaction than females. Regarding faculty versus staff differences, there were no differences in all the dimensions other than the courtesy dimension for which faculty had a lower level of customer satisfaction level than staff. Regarding educational level and age, there were no differences in any of the 16 dimensions.

No description available.

The attitudes of employees are key for ensuring the productivity and sustainability of an organisation. The present research aimed to explore obstacles and facilitators of positive team functioning in an offshore environment. Preliminary identification of obstacles and challenges to effective teamwork was achieved through an interview with two senior Human Resource managers at a large international bank, the primary location of which is in Australia. From this information, a survey was developed and distributed to members of an offshore Human Resource (HR) service centre consisting of 100 staff members, responsible for HR operations and described as an ‘extension’ or ‘captive’ team. An interview with management revealed that the effectiveness and sustainability of the current offshore team were of particular interest. Consideration of these issues and research into the effectiveness of virtual and captive teams led to a focus on organisational identity, work engagement, climate, trust, recognition from management, technology support, reliability of technology and goal clarity. Goal clarity and technology support were significant predictors of work engagement; low integration, goal clarity, technology support, reliability of technology and recognition from management were significant predictors of organisational identity. Thus, in an offshore environment, clear goals and the ability to complete those goals through use of efficient technologies are vital. This should impact the type of training given to offshore team members as well as the amount of technology support that is available to them.

<p>COVID-19 forced mass transitions to remote working across industries, significantly so in Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). ICT divisions were significantly tested as the provided service and support for remote work/learning. The purpose of this research is to characterize successful ICT practices in support of remote work/learning within HEIs. </p> <p><br></p> <p>This study investigates the current literature on HEIs, remote work ICT support, and Critical Success Factors (CSFs). Gaps in the current knowledge inform investigation into the factors of successful support as identified by HEI ICT professionals. A narrative literature review is conducted to explore the research on HEIs, remote work ICT support, and CSFs. Thereafter, subject matter experts are interviewed through a semi-structured interview approach. Content analysis is employed to characterize successful ICT support to remote work within HEIs. </p> <p><br></p> <p>While ICT support took on many different approaches in HEIs across North America, several themes emerged as consistent to providing successful ICT support to remote learning. The characteristics of successful support to remote work/learning are organized under the following themes: leadership qualities, customer emphasis, RW ICT tools, organizational factors, and combating digital inequity. This study offers practitioners areas of consideration to examine their plans and policies. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Future research is proposed to include studies on other emergency events, the impacts of covid lockdown on future policies, military education, and demographic specific research. Remote work practices and strategies vary greatly by industry and organizational structure. This research focuses on HEIs thus generalizability may be limited. </p>

Remote control and management functions are widely utilized in multiple industries.The remote control and management functions has allowed for peopleto connect and interact to solve technical problems more efficiently. However,the healthcare organizations have not utilized the remote controlling and managementfunctions to a degree similar to other industries. Telephoning ande-mailing are still two mainstream ways of work when it comes to solvingtechnical support issues in-house. In order to understand what the technicalpersonnel and the clinical users at a hospital desires in new solutions, thismaster thesis project aimed at finding the existing needs in terms of remotecontrolling and management functions. To find these needs, Q-methodologywas applied for collection of subjective data from healthcare personnel abouta software device that aims at providing remote controlling and managementfunctions. In addition to finding and defining the needs, this thesis also aimedat examining how well such systems can address these needs. Performing this methodology three factors where found representing three differentattitudes regarding the needs for remote functions. The three factorsare "Technical Communication is Significant", "Functionality Appreciativeand Experienced" and "Do if fast!". These factors and their interpretationhelps to be aware of and to evaluate remote support solutions in a systematicway. / Tillämpningen av tekniska distanslösningar används i flertalet industrier i olika syften. Dessa tillämpningar har möjliggjort att människor kan ansluta och interagera med varandra för att på ett effektivt sätt lösa tekniska problem. Trots detta har inte vårdgivarorganisationer tillämpat dessa typer av lösningar i en liknande utsträckning jämfört med många andra industrier. Kommunikationskanaler som telefonsamtal och e-post är fortfarande vanliga när vårdpersonal bemöter tekniska problem som ska lösas internt. Syftet med denna uppsats är att hitta och definiera de befintliga behov som teknisk personal och kliniska användare upplever på sjukhus gällande tekniska distansl ösningar. För att hitta och definiera dessa behov har Q-methodology tillämpats för att systematiskt samla subjektiv data från vårdpersonal gällande ett nytt verktyg som ämnar till att leverera tekniska distanslösningar till sjukvården. Utöver detta har denna uppsats också undersökt hur väl denna typ av nya verktyg tillfredsställer de adresserade behov som beskrivits ovan.   Applicerandet av denna metodik resulterade i tre åsiktsgrupper som representerar tre olika attityder gällande behov för tekniska distanslösningar. Dessa tre åsiktsgrupper är "Technical Communication is Signficant", "Functionality Appreciative and Experienced" och "Do it fast! ". Vetskapen om dessa existerande_åsiktsgrupper bidrar till en större förståelse och en större förmåga att utvärdera tekniska distanslösningar.

Abstract Software process assessment and improvement came under the spotlight in the discussion of software engineering when the Software Engineering Institute published the maturity model for software process capability determination in 1987. Since then, several new approaches and standards have been developed. This thesis introduces a European software process assessment and improvement methodology called BOOTSTRAP, which was initially developed in an ESPRIT project starting from lean and kaizen philosophy. The focus is on the evolution of methodology and how it was developed, using an experimental research approach. The work covers also enhancements to the methodology investigated in the SPICE, PROFES and TAPISTRY projects. The enhancements expand the original methodology into new specific application areas, keep it compliant with new quality standards and certification, improve the efficiency of the assessment method, enhance the focus from process to product and strengthen improvement monitoring and support. To address these areas, the new BOOTSTRAP methodology releases offer tailored and enhanced assessment reference models and enhanced assessment and improvement methods. The new features also facilitate more frequent and even continuous assessments with software measurement-based indicators. The thesis explains the origin and features of BOOTSTRAP software process assessment and improvement methodology and how it was developed for professional use. The discussion starts with the evolution of the methodology. Then the new trends and demands are introduced and new features of the BOOTSTRAP methodology described. The conclusion discusses how the methodology developed to be able successfully to support professional software process assessment, to align it with the evolution of software engineering, to adopt the features and requirements of the underlying standards in order to conform to the requirements set by ISO 15504 standard and to become validated in practice. / Tiivistelmä Ohjelmistoprosessin arvioinnista ja parantamisesta tuli ohjelmistotekniikan keskeinen kiinnostuksen kohde kun Carnegie-Mellon yliopiston ohjelmistotekniikan instituutti SEI julkaisi kypsyysmallinsa ohjelmistoprosessin kyvykkyyden arviointiin vuonna 1987. Siitä lähtien maailmalla on syntynyt lukuisa määrä uusia malleja ja standardeja tälle alueelle. Tässä väitöskirjassa esitellään eurooppalainen ohjelmistoprosessin arviointi- ja parantamismenetelmä BOOTSTRAP, joka kehitettiin alun perin Euroopan unionin ESPRIT tutkimusohjelman rahoittamassa projektissa lähtien japanilaisesta ohut-ajattelusta (Lean) ja sen jatkuvan parantamisen periaatteesta (Kaizen). Esitys keskittyy menetelmän kehittymiseen ja siihen miten menetelmä käytännössä kehitettiin käyttäen kokeellista tutkimustapaa teollisessa ympäristössä. Työ kattaa myös alkuperäiseen menetelmään tehdyt laajennukset, jotka syntyivät yhteistyössä SPICE, PROFES ja TAPISTRY projekteissa tehdyn tutkimuksen tuloksena. Tehdyt laajennukset mahdollistavat menetelmän käytön uusilla sovellusalueilla, takaavat menetelmän yhteensopivuuden alan laatu- ja sertifiointistandardien kanssa, parantavat menetelmän tehokkuutta, laajentavat menetelmän käyttöaluetta prosessin arvioinnista sisältämään myös tuotteen kehittämisen arvioinnin ja vahvistavat parantamisen seurantaa ja tukemista. Toteuttaakseen näiden uusien ominaisuuksien vaatimukset uudet BOOTSTRAP menetelmän julkistukset tarjoavat räätälöityjä ja laajennettuja mallikuvauksia arviointien tekemiseksi sekä entistä täydellisempiä lähestymistapoja arviointien suorittamiselle ja parantamiselle. Menetelmän uudet ominaisuudet mahdollistavat myös usein toistuvien arviointien suorittamisen ja jopa jatkuvan arvioinnin ohjelmisto-mittauksia hyödyntäen. Väitöskirjassa kuvataan yksityiskohtaisesti BOOTSTRAP menetelmän lähtö-kohdat ja ominaisuudet ja se kuinka menetelmä onnistuttiin kehittämään ammattimaiseen ohjelmistoprosessin arviointiin ja parantamiseen sopivaksi. Ensin kuvataan menetelmän kehittyminen ja sitten edetään alan uusien kehitystrendien ja vaatimusten esittelyyn siihen kuinka BOOTSTRAP menetelmä uudet ominaisuudet vastaavat näihin vaatimuksiin. Yhteenvedossa osoitetaan kuinka kehittämisessä onnistuttiin saamaan aikaan uusi menetelmä, joka sopii ammattimaiseen ohjelmistoprosessin arviointiin, vastaa kaikilta osin alan kehittymisen vaatimuksia, sisältää alan standardien vaatimukset täyttävät käytännössä koestetut ominaisuudet, jotka takaavat menetelmän vastaavuuden ISO 15504 standardin vaatimuksiin.