<p> Computers have changed the way organizations do business and store information. Teams of professionals are needed to support the increased use of technology. Organizational leaders depend on information technology to obtain market information, maintain contact with customers, maintain organizational data, and stay competitive. Research supports organizational use of teams and a leader&rsquo;s relationship with followers affect the success of teams, which in turn influences an organization&rsquo;s competitiveness and outcomes. This quantitative descriptive correlational study describes how leadership and communication styles affect the success of computer support teams. The sample size in the study was relatively small. The response of leaders was eight out of 10 and follower response was 25 out of ninety. The study included a review of the impact of the increased use of teams in organizations and the relationship between leaders and followers. The results indicate a correlation of a leader&rsquo;s leadership and communication style to the success of computer support team members. The effect of relationships between leaders and followers is important in determining why some computer support teams are less successful.</p>

There is currently a glaring absence of critical discourse surrounding the integration of information communications technologies in schools. Despite a growing body of literature showing that technology has both advantages and disadvantages, schools are incorporating ICT as if it were a panacea for educational and societal ills. This deification of ICT is based on utilitarian concerns and spiritual yearnings. The first chapter situates the author and outlines how the larger technology metanarrative has a mythic status. Chapter two situates the appeal to utilitarian and spiritual values in the wider culture. The final chapter examines how these issues are played out in the school system. The author concludes with a summary and raises areas for further investigation, along with suggestions for change.

The decline of regional communities in Australian as in the rest of the world has motivated both research and political enquiry into methods of arresting it. A popular and persuasive philosophy is New Regionalism which envisions regions as potential economic powerhouses given a degree of self governance and the necessary resources. In a world where efficient telecommunications is a prerequisite to participation in the global economy a modern and effective telecommunications system is a crucial resource. Australia has adopted a position of partial privatisation of the telecommunications industry which poses questions of updating telecommunications in regions where the density of population does not justify commercial operations. In 1997 the Australian Federal Government devoted in excess of $A460 million to a grant award scheme called the Regional Telecommunication Infrastructure Fund (RTIF) or Networking the Nation (NTN) in which communities identified local telecommunication problems and applied for funds to correct them. / No formal analysis has been conducted of this scheme until recently and no evaluation has been undertaken to assess the 'fit' or alignment of Federal Government policy and community goals. The primary purpose of this thesis is to develop and test a conceptual framework designed to assess the effectiveness of the mechanism of this and similar schemes. Indeed the motivation for this research is the lack of a suitable framework. The conceptual framework which we have designed for this purpose is informed by Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) which has competitive advantage through the use of Information Technology (IT) as its basic premise. From the community perspective, community 'thrivingness' is the equivalent of competitive advantage and our objective is to investigate its feasibility in this novel context. / The conceptual framework was first tested on King Island which had gained an NTN grant to update its telecommunications system. Thereafter we conducted three case studies in Ballarat, Shepparton and Tasmania. Each of these was viewed through the lens afforded by the SISP based conceptual framework and a cross case analysis compared and contrasted the shifting status of alignment between Federal Government and community before and during the NTN projects. We conclude that the perceptions of large grant award schemes are assisted by a suitable framework or lens and that the set of SISP principles that comprise the conceptual framework, is useful in community preparation in applying for awards and in managing the projects when the award is made. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2006.

The problem driving this research is that of how to improve the communications between stakeholders involved in dealing with what Rittel and Webber define as a wicked problem; one that is socially constructed and in search of a socially constructed solution. The particular wicked problem actioned is that of providing Information Technology Systems (ITS) service support to a CSIRO research division. The approach taken to improve communications was to develop and reflect upon an interlocked pattern of questions, a questioning model, which aims to reveal the underlying assumptions of stakeholders. The questioning model developed, labelled the H+10 Model has two aspects. The first is a pattern of questions developed from various linguistic communication models used in psychology; the second is a set of ten criteria for evaluating any questioning exercise. Therefore, the development process was to use the linguistic communication models literature to identify a particular pattern of interlocked questions, while in parallel identifying a set of ten criteria for reflecting on those questions and the assumptions they revealed. / The H+10 Model is not intended to be an ITS development methodology, rather a project definition thinking tool. It was used in this way on two real ITS projects at CSIRO as part of an extensive division wide action learning exercise. A summary of the projects, what was implemented as a result of the questioning process, as well as the responses of stakeholders are provided in Chapter 7. These provide some provisional evidence that the H+10 Model was effective and satisfied much of the ten criteria. In the concluding chapter recommendations for how to use the questioning model are provided, as well as for future research into its usefulness as a thinking tool. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2004.

Thesis (MPsy(Organisational))--University of South Australia, 2003.

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).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, August, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Political Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 328-340). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR19838

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2005. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Bibliography: leaves 448-492.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Frankfurt University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-286)