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The purpose of this study was to investigate whether, Information Systems Management (ISM), an Information Technology (IT) organisation within Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ CD), adopted the best practices in IT service management. IT Service Management entails ensuring that accurate IT services are delivered to the business at the right price and with the right level of quality, according to Young (2005). The notion of quality IT services is a concern for the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development taking in to consideration that it has set a goal of modernising itself by implementing IT systems. The vision of the department is to make IT services such as email available to all employees. The vision will not be attained if these services are not always available. The literature study shows that IT organisations that implement IT Service Management deliver quality IT services to the users and business. ISM claims to be aligned with Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) service management practices but lacks some of the structural elements that should be in place. The department has raised concern around whether the processes that they have implemented will yield improved IT services. The research evaluated available documents in view of uncovering implemented processes. The results are steps for improving IT services at the DOJ CD. Firstly, it is recommended that ISM should rate each of the IT Service Management process according to its importance to the business, secondly to identify the relevant teams to manage identified processes, thirdly to make the DOJ CD a customer of ISM. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

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Abstract available from pdf file. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

Thesis (MTech (Business Information Systems))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2008. / There is need to realise the potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) for farmers and agricultural role players, in order to achieve agriculture development. However in South Africa, it is not yet established which specific ICT are used and how they are used in different agricultural farm enterprises, and if used, their extent of deployment. In addition, few studies have focused on the factors that influence the use of ICT in South African agriculture. This study addresses these issues. This study investigates factors of ICT use that are helpful and necessary for the recognition of the importance and benefits of ICT in Western Cape commercial agriculture, specifically in the wine industry. The study investigates the different forms of ICT used in the wine industry, how they are being used in the industry, what they are used for, how important these technologies are as enablers of production, and the factors that affect their use. This study focuses on the use, not the adoption, of ICT in commercial agriculture. The study involved two groups of participants and was in two phases. In phase one, a survey of commercial farmers was conducted in Robertson Wine Valley. Phase two involved their farm employees who are involved in farm activities ranging from field, winery and administrative work in Robertson Wine Valley. 15 farmers and 60 farm employees responded to the questionnaire. The scope of the results for this study is limited to descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and correlation analysis. From the chi-square and correlation analysis, it was found that ICT training, age, race, current occupation on farm, monthly salary, education level and ICT literacy influence the use of ICT by farm employees.

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Cape Technikon, 2001. / Management information systems can be defined as information systems using formalised procedures to provide managers at all levels, in all functions, with appropriate information from all relevant sources, to enable them to make timely and effective decisions for which they are responsible. There is, and continues to be, an awareness in society that accurate and timely information is a vital resource of any organisation, and that an effective management information system is a means of providing the needed information. Many top management people are finding that information is a source of competitive power. It gives them the ability to out-manoeuvre their rivals at critical times, especially when introducing new products. Effective management information systems allow the decisionmaker (i.e .. the ll;)Ul:lger) to combine his or her subjective experience with computerised objective output to produce meaningful information for decision making (Thierauf, 1984:22). Managers must also learn how to state their wishes with precision. Management information systems (MIS) produce only what is asked, which may not be at all what is required. For effective use of information technology, managers must be able to define their information requirements as well as understand computer capabilities and limitations (Hussain and Hussain, 1995:8). The primary objective of this research was to establish the impact of utilising management information systcn»: (MIS) and applying information technology on the success of manufacturing industries. The other aim of the study was to investigate the extent of utilising management information systems and applying information technology in these industries. The study focused on medium- and large-scale chemical manufacturing companies in the Cape Metropole area that have operated for at least the past five years.

M.Ing. / Information Technology (IT) projects are typically accompanied by a wide variety of complex risks. The rapid rate at which technology is currently changing requires the use of updated processes for project risk management in the IT industry. This paper investigates the active management of risk by focusing on the causes of such risk and developing indicators to track project risk throughout all project phases. The current research focuses on Project Risk Management as described in the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK®) Fourth Edition, detailing the tools and techniques needed to make risk management work in IT projects. This Project Management Institute (PMI) Standard has been adopted for the current research as it is widely accepted by many organisations in order to ensure greater return on investment and other benefits from projects. The PMI’s PMBoK® details an approach to project risk management which includes the process concerned with identifying, analysing, prioritising and mitigating risk at regular intervals. Specifically, it focuses on budget-related risks in order to reduce IT project failure due to budget overruns. Risk measurement and risk control are also incorporated to achieve a sustainable risk management system for IT projects. Finally, a private sector IT project is used as case study in order to apply the research in practice. This case study makes use of Accenture's maturity model concept, which helps us to understand this organisation’s benchmarking in recent years.

This dissertation investigates the influencing factors on timetable quality, not only from a data quality perspective, but also from an information quality perspective which takes into account the quality of the business processes involved in creating the timetable. The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University was used as a case study for assessing the quality of the timetable process, the quality of the source data, and the quality of the final timetable produced. A framework for managing the data quality during the timetabling process is proposed. The framework is based on reviews done on data quality management best practices and data quality aspects. Chapter 1 introduces the current Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University timetable, and motivates why data quality management is essential to its success. The scope and research objectives are presented for this dissertation. Chapter 2 covers a literature study on business process and data quality management best practices. The common thread through all the management methodologies investigated, was top management involvement and commitment to continuously improving the quality of data. Chapter 3 discusses various characteristics of data quality. Quality is determined to be whether the end result meets the quality requirements for which it was intended. Hence each system could have quality aspects that are unique to it. Chapter 4 explains various research designs and which were followed for this dissertation. The combination of literature studies, a questionnaire and a case study were used. Chapter 5 is a case study of the data quality and timetabling processes used at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and is based on the research design described in chapter 4. The current business processes followed in setting up the current timetable are presented, as well as the proposed timetabling process that should produce a better quality timetable for the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan 4 University. The data quality aspects most pertinent to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University are determined, being timeliness, accountability, integrity and consistency, as well as the most probable causes for bad timetable quality, like uniform technology, processes, ownership and using a common terminology. Chapter 6 presents a framework for managing timetable data quality at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University using an Information Product Map approach that will ensure a better quality timetable. Future research is also proposed. It is evident from this dissertation that data quality of source data as well as the quality of the business process involved is essential for producing a timetable that satisfies the requirements for which it was intended. The management framework proposed for the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University timetabling process can potentially be used at other institutions as well.

Dissertation submitted in complete fulfilment for the requirements of the Degree of Master of Technology in Information Technology, M L Sultan Technikon, 1998. / Decision Support Systems (DSS) are interactive computer-based systems developed to support managers in complex tasks requiring human judgment. DSS utilise data, provide an easy user interface and allow for the decision maker's own insights. / M