M. Ing. / Change management is a crucial component in the daily activities inherent within the civil engineering industry, which if used effectively, can mitigate the impact of project scope changes and be beneficial to the life cycle of the a project. Project scope changes regularly occur during the construction phase of civil engineering projects, and normally result in severe disruptions. Although scope changes during the implementation phase are avoided where possible, their existence is a practical reality. These changes can be managed by a Change Management System (CMS) that can minimize the impact of these changes. This dissertation investigates different change management systems, which are used by major companies to mitigate the impact of project scope changes. Case studies on change management systems are provided, and the advantages and disadvantages of these systems are discussed. These change management systems were used as a reference axis for a newly proposed project scope change management system, namely the Proactive Change Management Database System (PACMDS). The PACMDS was developed by the author, to minimize the impact of scope changes in civil projects. In a survey done to establish whether the PACMDS would be effective in mitigating project scope changes, it was found that the PACMDS would assist in managing project scope changes effectively.

In a competitive environment management of organizations has to decide which the best opportunities are to pursue, as well as how to deliver faster and cheaper than their competitors on their commitments. This has to be done with limited resources to ensure profitability. In this study a conceptual management model is proposed to serve as a management tool to help management of organizations choose the right amount of value opportunities entering the organization’s value stream, managing the risks associated with the opportunities, and converting the opportunities into high-value adding realities as fast as possible. The solution applies supply chain and constraint management principles to the proposed management model, assuming that Critical Chain multi-project management is in place. The conceptual management model also proposes a set of strategically placed buffers as an integral part of the process, which are the primary means of managing the whole system for increased productivity. The TOC thinking processes is systematically employed to identify the core management problem for the study and also proposing a solution. The proposed solution was simulated and confirmed that it is indeed a valid way to increase organizational value in terms of amount and timing. / Dissertation (MSc(Management of Technology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / unrestricted

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.

One of the most critical assets in most organisations is information. It is often described as the lifeblood of an organisation. For this reason, it is vital that this asset is protected through sound information security practices. However, the incorrect and indifferent behaviour of employees often leads to information assets becoming vulnerable. Incorrect employee behaviour could have an extremely negative impact on the protection of information. An information security solution should be a fundamental component in most organisations. It is, however, possible for an organisation to have the most comprehensive physical and technical information security controls in place, but the operational controls, and associated employee behaviour, have not received much consideration. Therefore, the issue of employee behaviour must be addressed in an organisation to assist in ensuring the protection of information assets. The corporate culture of an organisation is largely responsible for the actions and behaviour of employees. Therefore, to address operational information security controls, the corporate culture of an organisation should be considered. To ensure the integration of information security into the corporate culture of an organisation, the protection of information should become part of the way the employees conduct their everyday tasks – from senior management, right throughout the entire organisation. Therefore, information security should become an integral component of the corporate culture of the organisation. To address the integration of information security into the corporate culture of an organisation, a model was developed which depicted the learning stages and modes of knowledge creation necessary to transform the corporate culture into one that is information security aware.

Organisations are seeking for an opportunity to reduce costs while they increase service delivery to their customers. In order to remain in business, companies must have proper strategies in place to reduce costs while they still deliver the same standard of service. In order to remain competitive, companies have implemented Information Communication Technology (ICT). The implementation of ICT was done to assist organisations to improve efficiency in their production processes. To achieve these objectives, companies implemented Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Some companies that have implemented an ERP system, however, are faced with the challenge of not fully realising the full benefits of implementing the ERP system. The Water Industry is faced with a challenge of ensuring that it manages the water value chain effectively through the use of an ERP system. The industry is also experiencing difficult times in ensuring that the business is run in a sustainable manner to manage the infrastructure assets. This has resulted in the importance of internal reporting within the Water Industry to assist management to monitor performance and take informed decisions. The implementation of an ERP system has affected all the roles in the Water Industry, especially the role of management accountants who are involved with internal reporting. Management accountants are experiencing challenges during and after the implementation of an ERP system, especially with the effective and efficient reporting of information. This study investigated the challenges that management accountants encountered after the implementation of an ERP system in the Water Industry in South Africa. The research consists of a preliminary study to identify challenges that management accountants encounter during and after the implementation of ERP system in the Water Industry. A literature review on the role of management accountants combined with the ERP system applications and framework are investigated and an ERP system implementation framework for the Water Industry is proposed. The proposed framework is evaluated and recommendations are made to those involved with the water industry that are considering upgrading or implementing an ERP system.

Online communities have become a part of everyday life for many people. The members of the communities use them to keep in touch with family and friends, do business, look for jobs, play games, and more, both savory and unsavory. The ease of sharing personal information comes with the subsequent risk of having that information exposed publically or even stolen. The purpose of this study was to explore how much awareness of the risks affects a person’s decision to post personal information to an online community. Chapter I introduces the concepts and issues that will be investigated by this paper. Chapter II is a review of the literature on risk. Chapter III explains the model that was developed and used determine the relationships between risk perception, attitude, fear, and information revelation. Chapter IV explains the methods used to gather the data and what data was gathered. Chapter V contains the analysis of the data collected. Chapter VI contains the conclusion drawn from the data, implications for the research, and directions for future research.

Thesis (M.Com. (Information Systems))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2017 / Interorganisational information systems (IOIS) are automated systems which allow one or more firms to connect to their suppliers or customers in order to exchange data and information. Previous literature has suggested that the adoption of interorganisational information systems presents several benefits and challenges. IOIS is assumed to offer organisations the capability to improve business processes and provide better working relations with business partners. Despite this advantage that IOIS offers, adoption of IOIS presents complexities such as those associated with compatibility with a firm's IT infrastructure, lack of available skills, and concerns over data security and system failures. Through a review of existing IOIS literature, this study identified that four types of IOISs are available in South African, namely dyadic, multilateral, community, and hub and spoke. In addition, the technological, organisational and environmental (TOE) factors influencing the adoption IOIS were identified. A model exploring the effects of the pre-determined TOE factors on the adoption of IOIS was developed and tested. The TOE framework provided a theoretical contribution and addressed a gap in the literature into the barriers and determinants of the adoption of interorganisational information system (IOIS) across various organisations. A quantitative study was carried out and survey data was collected from a sample of 119 organisations across different sectors in South Africa. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire instrument administered online to a single key informant from each sampled organisation. The results revealed that multilateral IOIS are the most adopted systems while Hub and spoke IOIS are the least used. Furthermore, from the elven technologies which were identified in the literature review, the study revealed that groupware technologies, electronic payment system/online banking, video conferencing and electronic data interchange were the most adopted IOIS technologies within the sampled organisations. Adoption of IOIS was defined in two ways. First, IOIS adoption was measured as the number of implemented IOIS technologies. Second, as the extent which IOIS is used as communication medium with business partners and supports an organisation in decision making, business operation and replaces legacy technologies. Correlation analysis was used to test the model’s hypotheses and multiple regression was used to test the overall TOE model. The results showed that perceived compatibility, competition, and IS technical skill and education and training are most correlated with the adoption of IOIS, where adoption is measured as the extent of IOIS used as communication medium with business partners and used as support within an organisation. Top management support, trading partner pressure and perceived relative advantage of IOIS were also positively correlated with adoption, where adoption is measured as implemented IOIS technologies. Perceived complexity was found to be a barrier to IOIS adoption. This study serves as a guide for assessing factors contributing to interorganisational information system adoption and provides organisations with greater insight into the factors likely to enable and inhibit IOIS adoption. Keywords: IOS, IOIS, Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) Framework, information technology, IS department. / GR2018

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, 2016. / This study contends that Information Systems and Technologies (ISTs) fail to adequately provide for effective delivery of Business Intelligence and Analytics (BIA), which limits the value that organisations can derive from their data assets. In spite of the influence that each has on the other and their widely acknowledged and undisputed relationship and interdependencies, design and development approaches still promote a silo approach to IST and BIA in theory and practice. The evolution of the role of data in the digital economy not only compels academics and practitioners to collaborate on how to enable creation of good quality data at source but intensifies the requirement for an integrated approach to IST and BIA design. The research problem that the study addresses is that design methods commonly employed in both Information Systems (IS) research studies and practice do not advocate for an integrated approach to design and development of IST and BIA. While IS research accounts for both IST and BIA, IST and BIA design and development studies are approached independently and/or in isolation, with limited integration. The effectiveness of Social informatics (SI) as an interdisciplinary study of design, uses and consequences of use, puts it above the rest of the commonly applied socio-technical design theories and approaches. SI’s strength is in studying designs, uses and consequences of IST use after implementation. However, the theory versus practice inconsistencies presented by the interpretivist paradigm, which is an underpinning philosophy for classical SI, limit its use as a design method. Critical Realism (CR) offers the research study a viable alternative and is crucial in addressing both contextual requirements, while embracing the positivist, deterministic aspects of the study. CR is a pluralist approach based on sound research method principles; hence the study adopted it as both the theoretical paradigm and research method. The research study objective is to reconceptualise the SI perspective as an integrative design method underpinned by CR. The study adopts CR as its research methodology. CR is a philosophy of science that allows for the pluralistic approach to operationalisation of the research strategy, a catalyst in addressing the paradigmatic challenges of the research study. The ability to address the qualitative realist requirements of the study while effectively dealing with the positivist characteristics of the research was crucial in ensuring comprehensive results. The insights which could only be effectively gained through a qualitative realist process of enquiry were invaluable in advancing the IST and BIA design knowledge and practice. CR’s strength in focusing the research practice on the complexities of the real world is a critical enabler for an open system discipline such as IS. It ensures that the research is placed within the realist context of time, space and culture. CR is effective in allowing the researcher to explain the mechanisms that influence the social actor action at different levels of social organisations. It allows for the identification of non-deterministic tendencies in a complex, multidisciplinary and open system such as IS. It not only accounts for the varying social actor requirements at empirical level but reveals possible underlying causes and relationships of the observable or non-observable events and/or activities at play. This approach to analysis of IST and BIA requirements offers a unique ability to frame problems in meaningful and social actor-centred ways, at all levels of social organisation, enabling design and development of IST that are BIA centric. The development of new knowledge advances the field of IS design, a crucial step towards offering practitioners with a practical, structured and integrative design method. The critical realist approach is the most appropriate theoretical paradigm to adopt to address the theory-practice inconsistency challenges at the heart of the IS field. Its strength as a research methodology offers the researcher a unique ability to interact with data at a level that other research methods do not: that is, to examine the impact of data at the three fundamental levels of research – empirical, actual and real – thereby enhancing the effectiveness of its application in practice. Therefore, reconceptualisation of the SI perspective theoretical paradigm from interpretivism to CR offers greater benefits not only to this research study but to the IS field. This is yet another development in the field which seeks to address the long-standing challenge of IS value contribution that is constantly diminished by ineffective design methods and poor integration of the IST and BIA disciplines, which by design should be leveraging on each other’s strengths in a quest to deliver superior results to businesses. Business requirements analysed as input into the design process using the integrative CR-based design method account for BIA requirements, thus enhancing value derived from both IST and BIA. / MT 2017

This dissertation examines backsourcing of corporate IS activities, and why IS outsourcing clients decide to backsource. Information Systems (IS) backsourcing is a business practice in which a company takes back in-house assets, activities, and skills that are part of its IS operations and were previously outsourced to one or more outside information service suppliers. Focusing on economic, strategic and relationship motives, a number of theoretical backsourcing factors is derived from transaction cost theory, agency theory, core competency perspective, IOR theory and marketing channels literature. To identify factors salient in IS backsourcing and to examine the process of backsourcing this dissertation employs exploratory case study methodology. Six outsourcing contracts within three client companies are analyzed. The evidence is collected using semi-structured interviews, archival records and company documents. Results of individual cases are reported and then triangulated to single out the primary backsourcing antecedents. Qualitative comparative analysis is employed to augment the findings. The findings indicate that service quality of the outsourcing arrangement, cost benefit of backsourcing, change in the role of IS, loss of control over the outsourcing arrangement, changes in the management and power of decision makers and other organizations impact backsourcing decisions. Strategic considerations, change in the role of IS and loss of control, dominate backsourcing decision even if costs or service quality suggest otherwise. The executives exert power through their structural position within organization and have a major influence on decisions. Executives' beliefs, prior experience and values impact their perception of backsourcing and play a role in backsourcing decisions. Additionally, the power of other organizations involved in the interorganizational relationships with the client company is important. These organizations use political maneuvering to impose their goals on the client company. While service quality and cost considerations are important deliverables in the outsourcing contract, these factors by itself do not justify the decision to backsource.

Healthcare information systems (HISs), as a class of systems, are not currently addressed in the MIS literature. This is in spite of a sharp increase in use over the past few years, and the uniquely qualified role that MIS has in the development of, impact and general understanding of HISs. In this project the design science paradigm frames the development of a set of design principles derived from the synthesis of the design literature, ethics literature, and professional guidelines, from both the medical and computing professions. The resulting principles are offered to address the design of healthcare information systems. Action research, a widely accepted methodology for testing design principles derived from the design science paradigm, is employed to test the HIS principles and to implement change in a healthcare organization through the use of an HIS. The action research project was a collaborative effort between a Central Florida hospice and the researcher, the result of which was an advanced directives decision support system. The system was design to meet a number of organizational goals that ranged from tracking compliance with federal regulations to increasing the autonomy of the patients that used the system. The result is a set of tested design principles and lessons learned from both anticipated and unanticipated consequences of the action research project.