Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisors: Mike Burmester, Yvo Desmedt, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Computer Science. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 9, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains x, 104 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Wanda J. Orlikowski. / "May 1993." / Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-42). / Supported by the Center for Information Systems Research, MIT.

Jeanne W. Ross, Cynthia Mathis Beath, Dale L. Goodhue. / "February 1994." / Includes bibliographical references (p. 21-23).

Thesis (MScEng)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A demand exists in SMEs to implement an ERP system to provide intime transaction and management information to the employees and management respectively. The reason for this study developed from problems experienced in the past with ERP implementations. As a first step, a generic business model for project management in an SME was developed. This business model is based mainly on the PMBOK. Experienced project management consultants provided inputs for the business model. CAE accepted the business model after a few reviews. The business model was implemented in CAE and the employees trained to perform their daily tasks on Omuzik by using the processes suggested by the business model. The five main processes in the project management business model are Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling and Closing. The model is complete with inputs to the processes and the resulting outputs from them. The business model was implemented on Omuzik, and comments were included with every business process. Reports for project management were developed to provide in the information requirements of the project managers. The reports developed and deployed aim at providing detail and summary information to assist project managers in performing project control. The reports were developed and implemented and are currently used by the CAE project managers. The project management business model and reports fit into the bigger project for the complete enterprise with great success. The bigger project has completed the templates and is ready for the first fast implementation where the methodology will be tested. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: 'n Behoefte bestaan by kleinsakeondernemings om ERP-stelsels te implementeer om in hulle intydse inligtingsbehoeftes vir transaksieinligting aan werknemers en bestuursinligting aan bestuur te voorsien. Die rede vir hierdie studie het ontwikkel uit die probleme wat in die verlede met ERP-implementerings ondervind is. As 'n eerste stap is 'n generiese besigheidsmodel vir projekbestuur in 'n kleinsakeonderneming ontwikkel. Die besigheidsmodel is hoofsaaklik op die PMBOK gebaseer. Ervare projekbestuur konsultante het insette gelewer vir die besigheidsmodel. CAE het die besigheidsmodel ná 'n paar hersienings aanvaar. Die besigheidsmodel is geïmplementeer, en die werknemers is opgelei om in hulle daaglikse werk Omuzik vir die voorgestelde besigheidsmodelprosesse te gebruik. Die vyf hoofprosesse in die projekbestuur-besigheidsmodel is Inisiasie, Beplanning, Uitvoer, Beheer en Afsluiting. Die model is afgehandel met insette vir die prosesse en die resulterende uitsette daarvan. Die besigheidsmodel is op Omuzik geïmplementeer, en kommentaar is by elke proses ingesluit. Verslae vir projekbestuur is ontwikkel om in die inligtingsbehoeftes van die projekbestuurder te voorsien. Daar word beoog om met die verslae omvattende en samevattende inligting te voorsien aan projekbestuurders om projekbeheer te kan uitoefen. Die verslae is ontwikkel en geïmplementeer en word deur CAE-projekbestuurders gebruik. Die projekbestuur-besigheidsmodel en verslae pas met sukses in by die groter projek vir die totale onderneming. Die groter projek is in die proses om die model te verpak vir die eerste loodsprojek.

There is a continued effort for organisations to invest in resources that enable them to reduce costs while increasing productivity to meet the needs of the customers in order to maximise profits. Such investments also empower them to gain competitive advantage in the market. In an endeavour to achieve this, organisations invest in implementing Information Technology (IT) software to assist in increasing efficiency. There are varieties of available software solutions that are used at various stages of the value-chain. One of these is the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Bakeries are no exception in exploring ways in which operations can be run more efficiently to reduce costs in the various levels of the supply chain through use of ERP systems. Although bakeries have invested many funds in implementing this system, they fail to enjoy the full returns on their investment of this system. The study compares the use of ERP systems between three leading bakers in Port Elizabeth, as part of convenience sampling, to identify any possible ineffective business practice applications and recommend some applicable solutions. In pursuing this study, a qualitative research was conducted. A critical literature review drawing on academic sources was conducted on the Supply Chain Management SCM. It provides an overview of SCM, and the effectiveness of ERP is SCM. Additionally, it provides benefits of using ERP in SCM. Furthermore, various tools that are used in measuring effectiveness of ERP systems were discussed. These tools included, Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness, part of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the balanced scored card. This was followed by a content analysis of web-based content of the three bakeries. Interview schedules were conducted using close-ended and open-ended questionnaires with the procurement, production, and distribution officers in the three bakeries to get a deeper understanding of the experience of the respondents. The questionnaires were distributed to twenty-seven (27) potential participants but interviews were conducted with only five (5) respondents. This constitutes a (5/27) 18.5% response rate. The questions on the questionnaires required a deeper understanding of the experiences of the respondents on their use of ERP. The questions were adopted from a balanced score card questionnaire that was previously used in measuring the performance of ERP systems.The study used Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use within the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to measure the effectiveness of ERP systems that are used in bakeries The analysis revealed that some production departments did not use the ERP system altogether while others used it as an archive and stuck to manual tasks resulting in duplication of tasks, which increase the workload of the departments. It also discourages interdepartmental information integration because other departments do not have easy and quick access to information from their production department. This department must share information to other departments through email. It was discovered that some end-users do not undergo formal training that affect their use of the system making it ineffective. Some found that their system was not user-friendly and increased their workload. Recommendations are made to the management of the bakeries on how to make the use of ERP effective for those planning to upgrade their current baking management systems.

Despite the continuous need to enhance the value of public services, information systems projects in the public sector still underperform due to their high velocity of change and strategic ambiguity. Diverse studies have been carried out examining ‘project capabilities’ to contribute to the efficiency of information systems project management. However, most studies of project capabilities focus heavily on the project execution that aims for successful implementation of systems. This supplier-oriented approach leads to overlooking the significance of a project owner’s benefits realisation after implementing the information systems. Moreover, this formulation of project capabilities also does not distinguish between dynamic capabilities for benefits realisation and operational capabilities for project execution. For these reasons, the realisation of a project owner’s information systems benefits has still been far from satisfactory, in addition to having a poor rate of project success. In order to address this issue, this thesis develops a more nuanced perspective on project capabilities by distinguishing the dynamic capabilities of owners from the operational capabilities of suppliers and by developing the concept of owner dynamic capabilities. This is followed by analysis of the importance of benefits management as an owner dynamic capability. The aim of this study is to contribute to a deeper understanding of why public sector information systems projects are so challenging and how the project owner’s information systems benefits can be accelerated. A content analysis method was adopted, and 10 years of National Audit Office Value-for-Money reports were analysed covering 31 information systems projects. Theoretically the concept of ‘owner dynamic capabilities’ is introduced, and the experience of UK central government information systems projects is empirically reviewed. The results bring a key implication by showing the significance of benefits management as a distinctive ‘project back-end’ owner dynamic capability. This thesis makes three main contributions to the current literature in information systems project and benefits management. First, the concept of owner dynamic capability is introduced and theorised based on a unique data set of major public sector information systems projects. Second, the importance of project back-end capability is revealed as a distinctive dynamic capability, which owners require to move their information systems investment from practical completion (the system works as expected) to beneficial use (the system delivers the expected business benefits). Third, the key findings provide the future research agenda for project management disciplines.

Esta pesquisa descreve e analisa a padronização de informações gerenciais em sistemas de informações de uma empresa multinacional. A estratégia de pesquisa adotada foi um estudo de caso único que contou com a triangulação de diversas fontes de evidência: arquivos, documentos, entrevistas e observação direta e participante. O referencial teórico aborda estudos antecedentes ao tema, conceitos sobre empresas internacionalizadas, informações gerenciais, Sistemas Integrados de Gestão (ERP) e Business Intelligence (BI). A migração para um sistema global está contextualizada num cenário de globalização em que está presente a intensificação das transações entre países em termos de investimentos, mercadorias e serviços, entre outras características. Neste cenário, observa-se maior demanda por informações padronizadas e comparáveis tanto para usuários externos quanto internos às organizações. Os avanços na tecnologia de informação, por exemplo, em bancos de dados e comunicação em redes viabilizou as iniciativas das empresas para implementação de sistemas compartilhados por diversos países. Assim como outras empresas na década de 90, as subsidiárias da empresa em estudo adotaram soluções locais de ERP. Já no ano 2000, durante o planejamento de longo prazo, decidiu-se que seria melhor partir para uma solução global de ERP e de BI em vez de prosseguir com melhorias em cada um dos sistemas locais. Em 2001, iniciou-se o projeto global com a primeira implementação e em 2011 o sistema é utilizado em aproximadamente 25 países. O suporte da alta gestão e participação dos usuários mostraram-se relevantes no que se refere a \"implementar com\" em vez de \"implementar para\" os usuários. Com relação à utilização das informações, os relatórios mais acessados no BI são relacionados a vendas e margens, controladoria, contabilidade e ordens de produção. No entanto, os relatórios de vendas e margens não foram os mais padronizados, pois embora as fontes dos dados sejam globais, os relatórios e consultas às informações são predominantemente locais devido à ausência de uma estrutura organizacional de vendas em nível mundial e ao fato de que a maioria dos usuários somente tem permissão de acesso aos dados de suas respectivas regiões. Já os relatórios de controladoria, contabilidade e compras apresentaram maior aderência aos relatórios globais, uma vez que estas áreas possuem responsáveis em nível global que fomentaram o uso e desenvolvimento de informações mundialmente padronizadas. No caso da empresa deste estudo, observa-se que, enquanto o ERP foi mais direcionado à consistência dos processos e com poucos relatórios pré-formatados, o BI foi direcionado aos relatórios e consultas de informações com a flexibilidade da análise multidimensional. Os benefícios identificados do sistema de BI global foram: consolidação de informações das subsidiárias; comparabilidade das informações entre subsidiárias; flexibilidade do BI para conversão de moedas; rastreabilidade e maior controle sobre a qualidade dos dados. Já as principais limitações do BI global foram: adaptação ao fuso horário dos países; equilibrar a necessidade de rapidez nas consultas com o nível de detalhe e o volume de dados armazenado; pouca flexibilidade para modificações das estruturas de dados já criadas; dificuldade de manter um catálogo de relatórios globais para todos os usuários e concentração da utilização dos relatórios para análises de informações passadas em vez de análises preditivas. A partir das evidências empíricas desta pesquisa, conclui-se que não há o cenário em que o ideal seria tudo sob um padrão mundial ou deixar tudo local, pois as necessidades em nível global e local são ajustadas de forma dinâmica, conforme as características da organização e perspectivas de negócio. / This research describes and analyzes the management information standardization in the information systems of a multinational company. The research strategy adopted was a single case study which involved multiple sources of evidence including: files, documents, interviews, and direct and participant observation. The literature review covers prior studies related to this subject, concepts about international companies, management information, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Business Intelligence (BI) systems. The migration to a global system is part of the overall globalization scenario with an ever increasing number of transactions between countries in terms of both investments and goods and services. In this context, there is a higher demand for standardized information to external and internal users. The breakthroughs in information technology, for example data bases and network communications, make possible corporate initiatives to have systems shared by subsidiaries located in several countries. Like other companies in the nineties, the subsidiaries of the studied company adopted their local ERP solutions. In the year 2000, during the five-year plan, it was determined that a global ERP and BI solution would be better than to continue improving each of the local systems. 2001 was the first roll-out toward the global system and now in 2011 the system is used in approximately 25 countries. The support from top management and involvement from business users was relevant to the success in implementing a global system (\"implement with\" instead of \"implement to\" the users). An analysis of information usage in the BI system showed that, the most accessed reports were related to sales and margins, controlling, accounting and production. However, reports about sales and margins are not standardized across the globe despite sharing the same data sources. These reports are mostly local due to the fact that there is no organization structure in charge of global sales and most importantly that users only have security authorization to their local information. The reports about controlling, accounting and purchasing presented a higher standardization once these areas had a global management structure that fostered the use and development of global reports. In this studied company, it was noticed that the ERP and BI complement each other. While the ERP system was focused on providing and enforcing consistent processes with only a few pre-formatted reports, the BI was focused on giving users the flexibility to retrieve information from reports. The benefits identified from a global BI were: consolidation of subsidiaries data, comparable information between subsidiaries, flexibility to handle currency conversions and better tracking and control over data quality. On the other hand, the main limitations identified were: inability to adapt to different time zones, a challenge in balancing between quicker response time and level of detail and volume of data necessary, little flexibility for changes in the current data storage models and in the creation of new ones, difficulties in the maintenance of a global catalogue of reports available for all users, and that reports are mostly used for analysis of past data and not predictive analysis. From the empirical evidences of this research, the conclusion indicates that there is not a scenario in which the ideal is all management information under a global standard or under a local requirement, because the needs at global and local levels are adjusted dynamically according to the company characteristics and business perspectives.

Após a afirmação de Johnson e Kaplan, em 1987, através do livro ?Relevance Lost?, de que a Contabilidade Gerencial tinha perdido sua relevância, diversos artefatos foram desenvolvidos. Ao final da década de 1980, o IMA divulgou pesquisa que identificava quatro estágios evolutivos da Contabilidade Gerencial. A presente dissertação distribuiu alguns artefatos ? expressão genérica para atividades, ferramentas, filosofias de gestão, filosofias de produção, instrumentos, modelos de gestão e sistemas ? entre estes estágios. Os artefatos enquadrados no terceiro e quarto estágio foram considerados ?modernos?. Esta pesquisa é um survey, e foi orientada pela seguinte questão: empresas brasileiras utilizam artefatos modernos de Contabilidade Gerencial. Os objetivos do trabalho são: (1) verificar se as empresas que foram indicadas ao Prêmio ANEFAC-FIPECAFI-SERASA, Troféu Transparência, e as que constam da relação das 500 Melhores e Maiores, ano base 2004, utilizam artefatos modernos de contabilidade gerencial; (2) verificar se as empresas que utilizam artefatos, tanto tradicionais quanto modernos, possuem desempenho e porte diferenciado das que não utilizam; e (3) verificar se existe relação entre a utilização de artefatos com o setor econômico e com o controle acionário. A coleta de dados se deu por meio de questionário enviado pela internet no mês de novembro de 2005. O tratamento estatístico à que os dados foram submetidos é o teste de significância de médias de duas ou mais amostras independentes. A revisão da literatura apresenta resultados evidenciados por algumas pesquisas realizadas em âmbito mundial, os quais foram comparados aos resultados obtidos pela presente dissertação. Foram evidenciados os resultados obtidos sobre a utilização dos artefatos pelas empresas constantes da amostra, bem como testados estatisticamente, em cada um dos artefatos, o grau de concordância ?concordo totalmente? com ?discordo totalmente?. Algumas afirmações são possíveis: (1) 66% das empresas indicadas ao Prêmio ANEFAC-FIPECAFI-SERASA e 52% das empresas listadas entre as 500 maiores em vendas no ano de 2004 utilizam artefatos modernos de Contabilidade Gerencial; (2) empresas classificadas como ?modernas? apresentam desempenho diferenciado do que as classificadas como ?tradicionais?, (3) no que se refere a porte, as médias dos dois grupos de empresas (?modernas? e ?tradicionais?) foram consideradas estatisticamente iguais; (4) não foi possível identificar relacionamento entre setor econômico e utilização dos artefatos modernos; e (5) a exemplo do item anterior, não é possível afirmar que existe relacionamento entre controle acionário e utilização de artefatos de Contabilidade Gerencial. / After the affirmation of Johnson and Kaplan, in 1987, through the book "Relevance Lost", of that the Management Accounting had lost its relevance, diverse tools had been developed. To the end of the decade of 1980, the IMA divulged research that identified four stages of the Management Accounting. The present job distributed some tools - generic expression for activities, tools, philosophies of management, philosophies of production, instruments, models of management and systems - between these stages. The tools fit in the third and fourth stages had been considered ?moderns?. This research is one survey, and was guided by the following question: Brazilian companies use modern tools of Management Accounting. The objectives of the work are: (1) to verify if the companies who had been indicated to the Premium ANEFAC-FIPECAFI-SERASA, Trophy Transparency, and those that consist of the relation of the 500 Better and Biggest ones, year base 2004, use modern tools of management accounting; (2) to verify if the companies who use tools, as traditional as modern, they possess performance and differentiated size of that they do not use; and (3) to verify if exists relation between the use of tools with the economic sector and the shareholding control. The collection of data if gave by way of questionnaire sent for the Internet in the month of November of 2005. The statistical treatment to that the data had been submitted is of two or more independent sample test significance of averages. The revision of literature presents resulted evidenced for some research carried through in world-wide scope, which had been compared with the results gotten for the present job. The results gotten on the use of the tools for the constant companies of the sample had been evidenced, as well as tested statistically, to each one of the tools, the agreement degree ?I agree total? to ?I disagree total?. Some affirmations are possible: (1) 66% of the companies indicated to Premium ANEFAC-FIPECAFI-SERASA and 52% of the companies listed between the 500 greaters in sales in the year of 2004 use modern tools of Management Accounting; (2) companies classified like ?moderns? present differentiated performance of that classified as ?traditional?, (3) in the that refer at size, the averages of the two groups of companies (?moderns? and ?traditional?) had been considered statistically equal; (4) it was not possible to identify to relationship between economic sector and use of the modern tools; and (5) the example of the previous item, is not possible to affirm that it exists relationship between shareholding control and use of tools of Management Accounting.

A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MAGISTER TECHNOLOGIAE (INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY) / The construction industry is reputedly lethargic to adopt innovation and, in particular, new technology. To date it has not readily embraced Information Technology (IT) given its reluctance to recognise the many potential efficiencies and competitive advantages afforded by this technology. Where IT in the form of Information Systems (IS) has been introduced the likelihood of failure and/or inefficiencies is large considering the historic inability of IS to deliver on its potential. Furthermore, this performance of IS is arguably dependent on the role of the Chief Executive Officer in the construction organisation.This study examines the performance of IS in the construction firms and the role played by the CEO in that performance. The study has four main objectives; namely: (1) to determine the role of the CEO of construction companies relative to IS governance and performance; (2) to determine the role of the CEO of construction companies in determining the structure of IS to strategically support the company; (3) to examine the relationship between the CEO and Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the impact of this relationship on the performance of IS in a construction firm;and (4) to examine the importance of information processing and knowledge management of construction companies.To achieve these objectives, the literature on IS performance in the organisation was reviewed; a structured self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted of a sample of executive managers drawn from 9 construction companies; the data was analysed; the findings discussed against the background of the literature reviewed.The key findings of this study indicate that most of CEOs of construction companies consider IS performance as of strategic importance in their organisations with respect to information processing and knowledge management; and acknowledge the important role of the CIO in IS governance and information management. Furthermore, the CEOs also acknowledge their role in organisational design, and the structuring of IS to strategically support their companies. Drawing from the responses of a sample of CEOs of contracting firms in the Western Cape province of South Africa there appears to be a direct correlation between the role of the CEO and IS governance and performance.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010. / The company studied is a privately owned textile company, which is part of the CAP Germany Group of companies. It is one of the leading textile knitting mills in Southern Africa and has won several awards in this regard, whilst it has also been subject to quite a few changes over the last few years. The company recently appointed a new Chief Executive Officer to lead the textile mill into the technical market, and extend the range of the fashion apparel, which it focuses on as its main product. With the aim of keeping the company in the forefront of new development, it has become important to keep its management team well informed and for them to make strategic decisions with much focus on analysis of the information that is available to them. The textile mill has a SAP ERP system, which was implemented as to provide a source of information, hence management can analyse this information that is available to aid them in their decision-making.