The aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between organizational and national culture and the use and effectiveness of systems development methodologies. Various different aspects of both culture and systems development methodologies are analysed. The first aspect studied is the state of systems development methodology use in South Africa. The results indicate that 74% of the organizations that participated in this study use a systems development methodology. Relationships between horizontal use of systems development methodologies and the success of the IS system and the success of the development process are also found. This relationship shows that when the systems development methodology knowledge is used in a bigger proportion of projects and by a bigger proportion of people, then both the development process and the IS system will be more successful. A relationship is also found that exists between organizational culture and system development methodologies. Organizations with a more hierarchical culture have been using SDMs longer than other organizational cultures. Relationships between national culture and systems development methodologies are also studied. The results show that when people prefer to work in a group (low individualism), the systems development methodology knowledge will be used more horizontally in the organization. The results also show relationships between the success of the IS system, the success of development process and the national and organizational cultures. When managers involve people at lower levels in the organizations in the decision making process, the developed IS system is more successful. The results show that organizations with a more developmental culture will have a more successful development system. The more an organization have a rational culture the more successful the IS system is perceived to be. / Thesis (MSc (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between organizational and national culture and the use and effectiveness of systems development methodologies. Various different aspects of both culture and systems development methodologies are analysed. The first aspect studied is the state of systems development methodology use in South Africa. The results indicate that 74% of the organizations that participated in this study use a systems development methodology. Relationships between horizontal use of systems development methodologies and the success of the IS system and the success of the development process are also found. This relationship shows that when the systems development methodology knowledge is used in a bigger proportion of projects and by a bigger proportion of people, then both the development process and the IS system will be more successful. A relationship is also found that exists between organizational culture and system development methodologies. Organizations with a more hierarchical culture have been using SDMs longer than other organizational cultures. Relationships between national culture and systems development methodologies are also studied. The results show that when people prefer to work in a group (low individualism), the systems development methodology knowledge will be used more horizontally in the organization. The results also show relationships between the success of the IS system, the success of development process and the national and organizational cultures. When managers involve people at lower levels in the organizations in the decision making process, the developed IS system is more successful. The results show that organizations with a more developmental culture will have a more successful development system. The more an organization have a rational culture the more successful the IS system is perceived to be. / Thesis (MSc (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Currently, client and supplier firms are struggling with how they can make their information systems (IS) outsourcing engagements more valuable. This research points to the importance of successful practice and outcome in IS outsourcing for achieving engagements of value. To enhance the understanding of IS out­sourcing over time, a process perspective is applied. Further, this research is based on the contention that IS outsourcing is more likely to be successful if challenges are managed in a proactive manner and with a relationship perspective. Thus, understanding challenges in IS outsourcing requires a symmetric view on client and supplier. The thesis is based on two studies presented as three steps of research: development, validation and reconsideration of a conceptual framework. The licentiate study centred on the step of development whereas the present doctoral study has a focus on the steps of validation and reconsideration. The purpose of this study includes investigating how the management of successful practice and outcome in IS outsourcing can be enabled. To address the purpose, the IS outsourcing process is studied in a client–supplier relationship. This includes that different actor perspectives, including strategic, operative, and systems, are considered for a better understanding of the practice of IS outsourcing, the challenges, and how different actors convey successful IS outsourcing. The thesis contributes a framework for relational-oriented management of IS outsourcing, which provides the structure for understanding what needs to be managed in terms of key conditions, when and how in connection to actors, relationships, and process. Theoretical propositions, enhancing the understanding of the complexity of IS outsourcing as well as the number of challenges involved, are also presented. In brief, these propositions relate to the circumstance that IS outsourcing requires management on different levels and with different kinds of results in mind.

At a theoretical level the research identifies a conceptual framework for the design of fruitful case discussions in an online environment and at a practical level, the conceptual framework has been used to implement and evaluate several versions of a case-based online course.

Logistics and Information System Development are hot topics in today’s business world. Although many studies have been conducted on these two areas, information about logistics costs is still lacking in many companies. Information Systems are tools that, if properly developed, aid organizations in processing data and providing information with speed, accuracy and quality to its intended users. A lacking in the relation between the business world and the Information System’s world was apparent in a studied company’s self-developed Enterprise Resource Planning system, where information about logistics costs was neglected. A case study made in this same studied company, show the importance of seven different logistics costs types and its related information. Using the analysis of the material gathered from both literary work and this case study, it was determined what information about logistics costs is neglected by the manufacturing organization’s self-developed ERP-system. Finally, it was concluded what information on these logistics costs that should be considered by manufacturing organizations for facilitating the understanding of total product cost of specific products and which may not be supported by these systems.

This dissertation increases our understanding of information system project success by investigating how software development team members define the success of an information system development effort. The theoretical model of ISD success is developed and tested. ISD success is measured through the eyes of the software development team members—since they are the most influential stakeholders during the development of the system. This dissertation was conducted in two phases: 1) theory building and 2) theory testing. The theory building phase began with a thorough literature review. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data analyzed to add emergent concepts to the model. The result of the theory building phase is the theoretical model of ISD success. The theory testing stage began with the development and validation of a survey instrument to measure the constructs and subconstructs found within the theoretical model of ISD success. Data was collected and the model tested using partial least squares regression. The findings indicate that software development team members view ISD success as being composed of process quality, functional product quality, non-functional product quality, team member benefits, and team member satisfaction. Team member satisfaction is highly influenced by team member benefits, moderately influenced by functional product quality and slightly influence by non-functional product quality and process quality. Software development team members view process quality as being composed of within budget and process maturity; non-functional product as being composed of reliability, usability, testability, and efficiency; team member benefits as being composed of learning and teamwork; and team member satisfaction as being composed of product satisfaction, process satisfaction, and personal satisfaction. Software development team members do not view on time as a significant contributor to their definition of process quality; they do not view modifiability, portability, or reusability as significant contributors to their definition of non-functional product quality; and they do not view recognition as a significant contributor to team member benefits. / Ph. D.

This research focuses on the development of a new methodology for creating effective websites, especially those used for marketing. It was found that existing methodologies were missing some key stages - user participation and “real interaction” (i.e. monitoring of user interaction with a prototype site). This has led to users being frustrated and lacking loyalty to the website. There is great potential for combining aspects of methodologies from different disciplines; however, these need to be integrated in a coherent way. To address these problems, a new integrated methodology was developed in this research. The new methodology was created from basic concepts derived from: lifecycle models; Information Systems development methodologies; methodologies with explicit human factors aspects; websites methodologies; marketing methodologies; and additional techniques such as task analysis and detailed website design and implementation. After studying the lifecycle model, the researcher identified four key principles, which were the foundation of the research: user participation; iteration; usability and “real interaction”. The way in which these four principles were incorporated in each methodology was evaluated in order to choose the strongest stages to utilize in the new combined methodology. After reviewing techniques for methodology integration, a new draft methodology was produced. To assess the new methodology, two research phases were used - interviews and a questionnaire. In the former phase, the researcher interviewed representatives from nine website development companies in Western Australia to discuss their current methodologies and compared these with the new methodology. / Most of the industry participants were pleased with the structure of the new methodology, as most agreed that it incorporates the necessary requirements to develop a successful website. The interviews generated some recommendations for revisions to the methodology, which assisted the researcher to improve the new methodology. In the latter phase, an online questionnaire was completed by a total of website industry participant andInformation Systems Professionals, in order to assess the revised methodology. Results from the interviews and questionnaire supported the research hypothesis – i.e. that the new integrated methodology can provide a more effective way of developing websites, utilizing the four key principles. This thesis points to the need for further research, including the development of a website describing the new methodology. This website will incorporate a software tool to facilitate selection of particular stages, steps and techniques from theintegrated methodology to produce a tailored methodology for any specific project, thereby implementing the concept of “contingency”.

Recent designs for low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes have exhibited capacity approaching performance for large block length, overtaking the performance of turbo codes. While theoretically impressive, LDPC codes present some challenges for practical implementation. In general, LDPC codes have higher encoding complexity than turbo codes both in terms of computational latency and architecture size. Decoder circuits for LDPC codes have a high routing complexity and thus demand large amounts of circuit area. There has been recent interest in developing analog circuit architectures suitable for decoding. These circuits offer a fast, low-power alternative to the digital approach. Analog decoders also have the potential to be significantly smaller than digital decoders. In this thesis we present a novel and efficient approach to LDPC encoder / decoder (codec) design. We propose a new algorithm which allows the parallel decoder architecture to be reused for iterative encoding. We present a new class of LDPC codes which are iteratively encodable, exhibit good empirical performance, and provide a flexible choice of code length and rate. Combining the analog decoding approach with this new encoding technique, we design a novel time-multiplexed LDPC codec, which switches between analog decode and digital encode modes. In order to achieve this behaviour from a single circuit we have developed mode-switching gates. These logic gates are able to switch between analog (soft) and digital (hard) computation, and represent a fundamental circuit design contribution. Mode-switching gates may also be applied to built-in self-test circuits for analog decoders. Only a small overhead in circuit area is required to transform the analog decoder into a full codec. The encode operation can be performed two orders of magnitude faster than the decode operation, making the circuit suitable for full-duplex applications. Throughput of the codec scales linearly with block size, for both encode and decode operations. The low power and small area requirements of the circuit make it an attractive option for small portable devices.

面對商場日益競爭激烈及服務型態的翻新迅速，通路革命已使流通業者的結構產生劇幅的改變。業者對營業資訊的需求增加，上下游、連鎖經營店間的資料傳輸日漸綿密，再加上企業為了市場競爭，其經營模式或組織需要非常靈活的彈性調整，使得資訊系統的開發與運用重要性日增，其維護上的負擔也日益沉重。在軟體技術方面，由於物件導向技術的成熟，資訊系統開發人員也戮力於導入此技術。然而現今之電腦軟體技術愈來愈複雜，對品質的要求也不斷地提昇，資訊系統開發生命週期在市場的變化下愈來愈短，這些現象都使軟體元件的角色加重。為要達到品質與生產力的雙重要求，軟體元件的再使用與配套的軟體發展程序是一個關鍵成功因素。本研究運用方法論 (Methodology)、概念形成 (Concept Formulation) 與雛型發展(Prototype) 三種研究方式，結合物件導向技術及軟體元件觀念相輔相成的軟體發展塑模方式，建構一套以使用個案及企業元件為主軸、軟體架構為中心的軟體元件發展程序，以期強化軟體再使用度及維護度，減低開發的時程及成本，並建立一個流通業訂單資訊系統的雛型，產生相關的企業軟體元件及開發程序，用以說明本研究所提概念的運用方式。 / Due to the rigorous competition and the rapid change of service type, the channel revolution has huge impact on the business structure of channel service providers. Because of the increased information requirement in business operating, frequent communication between channels and dynamic business model with changing organization structure intensify the importance of flexibility and maintainability of information systems development and usage. On the other hand, object-oriented technology has been adopted wildly by information systems developers. However, due to the incurred complexity in software technology, the requests on higher software quality and shorter life cycle make the focus shift to software component technology gradually. To meet the expectation in both software quality and productivity, the reusability in software components and the related development process will be the critical factor in success. In this thesis, we introduce a modeling process in terms of object-oriented technology d software component concepts, such as use case, business component and software architecture. The proposed process should potentially increase the software reusability and maintenance, as well as reduce the developing schedule and cost. A prototype for order processing is also built to illustrate the process and the involved concepts.

Recent designs for low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes have exhibited capacity approaching performance for large block length, overtaking the performance of turbo codes. While theoretically impressive, LDPC codes present some challenges for practical implementation. In general, LDPC codes have higher encoding complexity than turbo codes both in terms of computational latency and architecture size. Decoder circuits for LDPC codes have a high routing complexity and thus demand large amounts of circuit area. There has been recent interest in developing analog circuit architectures suitable for decoding. These circuits offer a fast, low-power alternative to the digital approach. Analog decoders also have the potential to be significantly smaller than digital decoders. In this thesis we present a novel and efficient approach to LDPC encoder / decoder (codec) design. We propose a new algorithm which allows the parallel decoder architecture to be reused for iterative encoding. We present a new class of LDPC codes which are iteratively encodable, exhibit good empirical performance, and provide a flexible choice of code length and rate. Combining the analog decoding approach with this new encoding technique, we design a novel time-multiplexed LDPC codec, which switches between analog decode and digital encode modes. In order to achieve this behaviour from a single circuit we have developed mode-switching gates. These logic gates are able to switch between analog (soft) and digital (hard) computation, and represent a fundamental circuit design contribution. Mode-switching gates may also be applied to built-in self-test circuits for analog decoders. Only a small overhead in circuit area is required to transform the analog decoder into a full codec. The encode operation can be performed two orders of magnitude faster than the decode operation, making the circuit suitable for full-duplex applications. Throughput of the codec scales linearly with block size, for both encode and decode operations. The low power and small area requirements of the circuit make it an attractive option for small portable devices.