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Although methodology use generally leads to fewer software defects and reductions in development time, the introduction of a formalized systems development methodology is often met with substantial resistance. Motivated by the purported benefits of methodology use, yet resistance to the introduction of a methodology, this study explains developer attitude toward using a formalized commercial methodology. An important variable for explaining attitude is perceived usefulness, defined as the degree to which using a methodology will enhance a developer's job performance. If, however, a benefit of using a methodology is different than increased job performance, then limiting the definition of perceived usefulness to beliefs surrounding job performance may provide an incomplete representation of what makes a methodology useful to developers. A methodology may be perceived as a rational process, used to achieve objectives such as increasing job performance or as a political process used to achieve objectives particular to one person or group. In order to determine what makes a methodology useful to developers, the perceived usefulness construct was expanded to include benefits of methodology use related toward achieving political objectives. In addition to broadening the perceived usefulness construct, this research also broke down perceived usefulness into its referent dimensions. Decomposing perceived usefulness provided a deeper understanding of what makes a methodology useful to developers and revealed the relative importance of each dimension of perceived usefulness. The study surveyed 120 developers. Partial least squares regression was used to test the antecedents of developer attitude as well as the hypothesized structure of perceived usefulness. Results indicate that developers will have more favorable attitudes toward methodologies they perceive as useful, easy to use, and consistent with the way they like to develop systems. Additionally, findings suggest that developers may find methodologies not only useful for achieving rational goals such as increasing system quality, raising productivity, and enhancing communication, but also useful for achieving political goals such as increasing career opportunities, showing others that professional development practices are being used, reducing anxiety, and defending against unreasonable user demands. / Ph. D.

Over the years, organizations have seen fit to adopt the use of agile systems development methodologies (ASDMs) because of the benefits that they offer, such as flexibility and the ability to deliver products faster, in constantly changing environments. When ASDMs are used in projects, they are made to fit or be suitable for a project‟s unique aspects, such as its size, requirements, scope and outcomes. This is known as the contingent use of ASDMs. Little is known about the contingent use of ASDMs in South African organizations. It is not known whether it is happening, its procedure and its success. It is important to know this because quality and control need to be maintained in systems produced. There is always a danger that the benefits of using a system development methodology (SDM) would be lost if ASDMs are highly adapted. This led to an investigation of three organizations in South Africa that use contingent ASDMs. With the help of semi-structured interviews, focus groups and documents, data was collected that was analysed, using the tool ATLAS.ti, and the analysis methods content and cross-case analysis. It was found that some South African organizations in the telecommunications, consulting, technological, outsourcing and agricultural sectors use ASDMs in combination with the still popular waterfall SDM. Compatibility between the SDM and the project is a factor in some organizations. Scrum was cited to be the ASDM that was used in some of the organizations interviewed due to its maturity. They make ASDMs contingent by using aspects in the methods, such as Scrum, that are useful for their unique projects. These aspects are in some cases combined with other SDMs to form hybrid methodologies. Some organizations use criteria, such as project needs, outcomes, size and complexity to make ASDMs contingent. Some organizations have measures and facilities in place to manage, monitor, control and document the process used to make ASDMs contingent. They make use of contingent ASDMs as they have experienced more success with them and they will continue to do so. / Thesis (MCom (Computer Science & Information Systems))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Over the years, organizations have seen fit to adopt the use of agile systems development methodologies (ASDMs) because of the benefits that they offer, such as flexibility and the ability to deliver products faster, in constantly changing environments. When ASDMs are used in projects, they are made to fit or be suitable for a project‟s unique aspects, such as its size, requirements, scope and outcomes. This is known as the contingent use of ASDMs. Little is known about the contingent use of ASDMs in South African organizations. It is not known whether it is happening, its procedure and its success. It is important to know this because quality and control need to be maintained in systems produced. There is always a danger that the benefits of using a system development methodology (SDM) would be lost if ASDMs are highly adapted. This led to an investigation of three organizations in South Africa that use contingent ASDMs. With the help of semi-structured interviews, focus groups and documents, data was collected that was analysed, using the tool ATLAS.ti, and the analysis methods content and cross-case analysis. It was found that some South African organizations in the telecommunications, consulting, technological, outsourcing and agricultural sectors use ASDMs in combination with the still popular waterfall SDM. Compatibility between the SDM and the project is a factor in some organizations. Scrum was cited to be the ASDM that was used in some of the organizations interviewed due to its maturity. They make ASDMs contingent by using aspects in the methods, such as Scrum, that are useful for their unique projects. These aspects are in some cases combined with other SDMs to form hybrid methodologies. Some organizations use criteria, such as project needs, outcomes, size and complexity to make ASDMs contingent. Some organizations have measures and facilities in place to manage, monitor, control and document the process used to make ASDMs contingent. They make use of contingent ASDMs as they have experienced more success with them and they will continue to do so. / Thesis (MCom (Computer Science & Information Systems))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

No description available.

Most contemporary organizations make use of computer-based information systems to support their management activities. There is considerable evidence that many of these systems experience problems during the development phases and a large proportion of these systems may, using specific criteria, be classed as failures. The reported high level of such failure in the development of computer-based information systems is not a new phenomenon for business, having been present almost from the inception of these systems. The frameworks that guide developers through the process can be labelled as information systems development methodologies, or ISDMs.For an educator involved with the teaching of some or all aspects of the development process this perceived high level of failure of systems development and implementation in practice raises some significant concerns. If there is a 'silver bullet' approach that students need to be equipped with to become successful systems developers we need to identify it and ensure that they are proficient with it. If there is no silver bullet we need to acknowledge this in our teaching and equip the students with the critical thinking skills to help them appreciate this in their later practice.This thesis takes as its central theme the view that there is currently no 'silver bullet' and one may never be found to fit all development projects and environments. Under such a constraint our students, as would-be practitioners, need to be helped to approach practice unfettered by a naïve belief that there is a single approach that offers guaranteed success in the development of information systems. Flexible, contingent and possibly creative approaches need to be fostered so that students can both work in the field and can contribute to both the overall understanding of that field and to their own personal development. The thesis considers the role of multiple perspectives, constructivism, language, communication and reflection as vehicles to allow the building and sharing of accessible understanding of information systems development methodologies in a tertiary education setting. The issues are explored through the design and development of a Masters course titled 'Information Systems Development Methodologies' that was designed and implemented at the University of South Australia in the period 1999 to 2008. The course was initially designed within an interpretivist paradigm and rather than following a traditional systems analysis and design path could be viewed more as a liberal arts course. However, as the course moved towards the end of its life it began to take on a more positivistic flavour.The story of the course emerged from a series of action learning cycles and is told from the perspective of the author who was both the researcher and the subject of the research.

This study defines the systems development methodologies named agile methods and investigates the environmental conditions where agile methods are most suitable. A definition of agile methods was developed using an analytical comparativeframework to investigate five of the earliest published agile methods; Dynamic SystemsDevelopment Method, Extreme Programming, Scrum, Adaptive Software Development,and Crystal Methods. The framework decomposed each method into its componentparts; philosophy, models, techniques, tools, scope, outputs, practice, and the extent towhich the method may be adapted to a situation. Based on this analysis and a literaturereview, a theoretical model of the target environment for agile methods was developed.This theoretical model is a proposed set of organisation, people, project, technology,and domain factors that relate to the successful use of an agile method.A mixed method research methodology was used. A qualitative design, consisting ofpositivist case studies, was used to test the theoretical model. Data was gathered fromnine software development projects, both agile and non-agile, using questionnaires andinterviews of project leaders. Then cross-case analysis was carried out on each projectfactor in the theoretical model. The relationship between environmental factors andagile method usage was investigated using non-parametric quantitative data analysis.This led to a revised model of the target environment for agile methods. The empiricaldata showed that specific organisational culture factors correlate with effective use of anagile method. These include the organisational characteristics of feedback and learning,teamwork, empowerment of people, collaboration, leadership, loyalty, and a resultsorientedculture that values entrepreneurship, innovation and risk taking.This research is significant for method users, those carrying out empirical research into agile methods, and those carrying out studies of systems development methodologies.

Free energy techniques provide the basis for an analysis of aspects of the liquid-vapour interface undertaken in this study. The main focus of this work is an extensive theoretical investigation into properties of the surface tension, including curvature dependence and supersaturation effects, using Monte Carlo computer simulation techniques.

While the focus of this work is on turbo equalization, there is also an examination of equalization techniques including MMSE linear and DFE equalizers and Precoding. The losses and capacity associated with the ISI channel are also examined. Iterative decoding of concatenated codes is briefly reviewed and the MAP algorithm is explained.

Research has shown that data warehouses potentially offer great investment opportunities to business. To benefit from this, business needs to invest large sums of money. Such investments are very risky, as no guarantee of the success of these ventures can be given. Object-oriented development has proved successful for developing operational systems in industry. This study researches object-oriented techniques to discover whether these techniques could be used successfully in data warehousing. A literature study focuses on the definition of an information systems development methodology and defines the components of such methodology. A further literature study on four popular object-oriented methodologies determines the commonalities of these methodologies. In conclusion, a literature study on data warehouse methodologies is done to discover the phases and techniques used in developing data warehouses. Based on the literature, a method is proposed to build a data warehouse harnessing object-oriented phases and techniques. The proposed method is applied as an interpretive experiment, followed by an evaluation of the data warehouse implemented. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.