Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Mark Keil, committee chair; Henry Moon, Arun Rai, Detmar Straub, committee members. Electronic text (190 p. : ill. (some col.)) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Feb. 22, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 156-168).

This interpretive exploratory case study investigated the challenges and barriers to the multi-grade context in general, as well as to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) implementation in a multi-grade context. Possible solutions based on teacher perceptions were generated inductively within a three-level typology. The research took place in three phases. Pre-training data were gathered in the first phase, using an open-ended questionnaire (all participants: n=20); personal interviews (n=9); and two focus group interviews, which consisted of three participants per focus group. Training on the Intel® Teach ICT programme and the provision of laptops (one per teacher) constituted the second phase. The third phase included post-training data generation using an open-ended questionnaire (all participants) and two focus group interviews, which consisted of three participants per focus group, to elicit teacher perceptions of the training programme and their use of the laptops in the classroom after the training. The findings suggest that first order (school or meso level) challenges pertaining to multi-grade teaching relate to the lack of resources; curriculum challenges; learner related challenges; isolation, impact on communication and teaching; time constraints; and a work overload as a result of the multiple roles. Second order challenges (self or micro level) related to the perceived uncaring attitude of the Department of Basic Education that left teachers feeling hurt and neglected; the unpreparedness for the multi-grade context which demotivated teachers; and the negative perceptions the teachers had about their learners. Third order challenges (system level, beyond the school level or micro level) were related to the lack of Departmental support from officials; the lack of curriculum training for the multi-grade context; and the lack of support on various fronts. Regarding ICT related challenges, the findings suggest that first order barriers related to the lack of suitable infrastructure for ICT implementation; lack of peer support; lack of access to appropriate hardware and software; and lack of time. Second order barriers related to the negative beliefs in the self; negative perceptions about the learners’ ability to use the laptop; and negative beliefs related to teaching and learning. The third order barriers were related to the lack of support and assistance from the Department of Basic Education for ICT implementation. The findings suggest that the participants viewed the provisioning of enabling programmes for parents as an important solution to first order challenges, and a change in mindset as the most important solution for second order problems. Third order solutions included a “multi-grade Renaissance” towards a new model for multi-grade teaching; re-thinking the curriculum requirements regarding multi-grade teaching by the Department of Basic Education; increased support and training from the Department; incentives to teach with ICT in the multi-grade context; encouraging further research inmulti-grade teaching; providing sufficient resources; establishing partnerships with stakeholders; and the closure and merger of multi-grade schools. There was evidence that the laptops provided were used in a variety of ways after the Intel® Teach training by the participants, including email as a tool to communicate with their fellow multi-grade peers, which serve to break their sense of isolation. Quantitative data from the open-ended questionnaire confirmed an increase in the usage of the laptop after the Intel® Teach training intervention. Although the participants generally experienced the Intel teach training intervention as positive, they also identified negative experiences. These findings enabled the embedding of ‘self and sustainable support from stakeholders’ more explicitly in the professional teacher development ICT implementation framework of Du Plessis and Webb (2012b), which suggests that the Intel® Teach training intervention can be used as a vehicle to address ICT implementation within the multi-grade context. It is suggested that the Department of Basic Education should consider exposing all teachers to the Intel® Teach programme and assist multi-grade teachers by providing better on-going support and putting the necessary policies, implementation and infrastructure in place.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Mark Keil, committee chair; Arjan Raven, Detmar Straub, Arun Rai, committee members. Electronic text (144 p. : col. ill.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Feb. 4, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 138-144).

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

M. Tech. Business Information Systems / Today, and in the past few years, organizations have supported and continue to support their business strategies by enabling technology based Information Systems, that enhance their business processes. Information Systems has become an essential tool to enable real time decision making, monitoring, planning and thus supports organizations to be more competitive, by improving productivity and reducing costs. Organizations are facing lots of challenges during Information Systems projects which cost them dearly. There are many factors that influence Information Systems projects and these factors must not be ignored. The research argument driving this dissertation is that if these factors are identified, understood and considered, organizations may leverage the challenges currently experienced. This dissertation is about describing and analysing factors that influence Information Systems projects. If understood, these factors can be used to minimize failures in Information Systems development projects

M.Tech. (Information Technology) / Increasingly, more now than before, the corporate world has been paying more attention to the prominent topic of “governance”. The absence of governance in an organisation or ineffective governance has become synonymous with all that is wrong. It is regarded to be the root cause of all evils – not only in the corporate environment, but also in society. Following corporate scandals of recent years that have exposed corporate malpractices and mismanagement, corporate governance is increasingly being recognised worldwide as a best practice and an effective mechanism that not only promotes corporate efficiency, competitiveness and sustainability, but is also a tool for combating corporate corruption. The audit function is considered one of the main supporting pillars of corporate governance, as it plays an important role in helping management attain its business goals and strategic objectives. This is realised through a systematic and disciplined approach to evaluating and improving the effectiveness of the organisation’s system of internal control, risk management and governance processes. The failure of the audit function is said to have been one of the critical contributors to recent global corporate scandals. Robust auditing is believed to be the cornerstone of modern corporate governance. The use of auditing in project management processes increases the probability of project success. Using corporate governance as a best practice and audit as one of its sub-sets, this research study deals with the topical issue of failures in Information Technology (IT) projects. The study strives to address this problem by adopting a holistic approach to IT project management auditing that includes corporate governance principles over and above the traditional principles and processes for auditing IT projects. Over the past 15 to 20 years, the rate of failure of IT projects has changed little in continual surveys, showing that more than half of all IT projects overrun their schedules and budgets. This situation has continued in spite of new technologies, innovative methods, tools and different management methods. Although most organisations heavily rely on IT-enabled projects for competitive advantage, it is estimated that worldwide over $6.2 trillion is being wasted annually on IT project failures. One of the reasons for this situation has allegedly been the failure of project governance. Thus, the importance and added value of this research study lies in adopting a holistic approach to IT project management auditing. The study involves corporations and not government agencies or other institutions. The study adopts a qualitative research approach and uses semi-structured face-to-face interviews as the primary method for data collection. It is intended that this study fills a gap in the research literature on the topic.

Research shows that information technology (IT) projects have a poor success rate. Many IT projects exceed the allocated budget, take longer than the time allocated or do not meet the project requirements. The purpose of this study is to identify the critical success factors for implementing an IT project plan in automotive assembly firms in South Africa. The factors identified during the study cover the following topics: the project manager as a factor of success; project communication; knowledge management; the role of management; business strategy; project success measurements; and training and development. For the empirical study an online questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. The study consisted of 40 participants who are involved in the implementation of IT projects in automotive assembly firms with a minimum of 1 year experience. The questionnaire requested the biographical information of the participants and then asked the participants about their perception of the current project activity as well as their perceived importance of the project activities mentioned. The participants’ responses were structured according to a Likert-type scale. Participants had to indicate the extent to which they agreed with each statement in the questionnaire. The responses obtained from the survey were presented and analysed. The researcher observed in this study that aspects of the critical success factors were in place however there were areas which showed large variances. The researcher recommends that management of automotive assembly firms in South Africa should look into project communication and knowledge management. These factors showed large variances with regards to the current project activities and the perceived importance of the activities.

M. Tech. Business Information Systems / The technological world is emerging and advancing rapidly. Organisations aspire to meet their business goals and strategic objectives. IT projects have the ability to enable organisations meet their business goals and objectives hence organisations invest a lot of time and money on implementing them. The increasing need for organisations to use technology has made organisations implement IT projects. IT projects are implemented to achieve efficiency and effectiveness that is crucial in achieving business goals and strategic objectives. Other benefits include, improved and increased customer satisfaction, improved growth and development within the teams and competitive advantage. Despite an increase in studies on the performance metrics for IT project success in organisations, IT projects still fail. Many IT Projects are considered failed when they are not delivered on time, not delivered within budget, and when the delivered solution does not meet the business requirements. This research study aimed at determining the performance metrics for IT project success within a financial organisation

M. Tech. Business Information Systems / Technology has become essential to the running of many enterprises in the modern world as it can enable businesses and help them operate more efficiently and effectively. Information Systems are developed to help in the daily running of business operations. Information systems projects are undertaken to manage the delivery of these Information Systems and enable the business through technology solutions. However, not all projects succeed in delivering their required solution and benefits. This dissertation is about understanding how Information Systems projects are managed and how that could be improved. The study, underpinned by the Work System Theory, explored Information Systems project management; it reveals how Information Systems projects are managed and the factors influencing project failure or success. This goal of this research was to conceptualise a framework for improving the management of Information Systems projects.