Search results

The purpose of this paper is to present an innovative agile methodology that proposes fundamental changes in managing the development of in-house information systems in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and benchmarks it with one of two database technologies enabling these systems to be both efficient and competitive.

The objectives are achieved by presenting an elaborated design of the agile methodology that manages the system development process by addressing three basic components: roles played by system players, process needed to fulfill the system development, and artifacts to document the project. A case study is conducted as a proof of the effectiveness of the proposed methodology and measures whether the selection of the database technology affects the effectiveness of the system development process.

Results show that, compared with traditional methodologies, the proposed methodology reduced the cost of system development and testing by 30 percent and enhanced the IT – business alliance. Further, this work found that the selection of a suitable database technology is strongly related to the complexity and interrelationships between the data used.

Such research did not receive the needed attention (Hunter, 2004) even in the past decade. Successful adoption of IT by companies could be in the form of customized IS which could be expensive for SMEs to adopt due to a lack in technical expertise and financial resources. The proposed methodology has the potential to promote sustainable development through helping SMEs in reducing the time and cost of IT project development.

The decision to operate BPO-IT organisational model by a business process outsourcing (BPO) service provider has far reaching benefits. The purpose of this paper is to develop a service provider’s BPO-IT framework that provides in-house IT function (software) required to process client services.

The multi-case study adopted an exploratory sequential mixed method research approach. In the first instance, seven BPO service provider organisations were investigated in the qualitative phase and 156 in the quantitative phase, respectively.

The adoption of the developed framework indicates that it could reduce failures in BPO relationships through reduced turnaround time in processing client services, improved quality of service, reduced cost, improved client and provider’s competitiveness, and confidentiality of client operations. Outsourcing clients could lay the foundation for a successful relationship by adopting a selection process that could choose the right provider.

The paper reveals BPO-IT organisation’s operation towards in-house provision of software required to process client services. A research exploring BPO service providers from a top outsourcing destination like India could provide offshore outsourcing clients the information to move towards onshore outsourcing.

The industrialized housing system (IHS) is regarded as an effective building philosophy based on off-site construction techniques to achieve rapid and cost-effective housing development. The purpose of this paper is to develop a multi-criteria decision-making support system (DMSS) model for the evaluation of housing systems to select the relevant decision factors and to identify the types and characteristics of suitable IHSs for application in a mass housing development.

A multi-criteria DMSS model with the analytical hierarchy process was designed. Based on the literature review and also the response of the ten experts’ interviews, 30 decision factors were identified for evaluation. In addition, 5 IHSs were considered as a case study for testing the model. Then, 30 professionals participated in a questionnaire survey conducted to evaluate the priority vector importance level of the decision factors and housing systems.

The result of the decision-making process showed that the top three decision factors are customer needs, supply chain and the construction industry. In addition, both precast concrete beam and slab blocks, as well as agro stone panels are identified as suitable housing systems. The systems have the characteristics of being lightweight, easy to produce and erect, and cost-effective, and they use local input resources and semi-skilled labor. The findings also revealed the potential and practicality of the model among multiple alternatives across multiple decision factors.

The study has faced the limitations of available professionals and experts who have rich experience in the application of IHSs. In addition, there were few types of alternative IHSs and limited practice of IHSs implementation in large-scale housing construction. These challenges caused limitations to the relevant data collection. In order to address these challenges, all the available experts from the different sectors of the construction industry with the experience of IHSs construction are invited to participate and the available alternative IHSs in the market are selected for evaluation.

The rational evaluation method used to determine the important decision factors and the general characteristics of the suitable housing systems can help housing developers and decision makers in developing countries to make informed and effective decisions.

The findings of the study help to address the challenge of lack of sufficient housing supply to the overwhelming housing demand that exists and identify the most important decision factors and suitable housing systems that can be applied for the rapid and decent large-scale housing developments at an affordable price.

This paper bridges the knowledge gaps that exist regarding the identification and evaluation of IHSs in Ethiopia. This study can help practitioners, housing developers, and decision makers to make informed and effective decisions regarding the evaluation and selection of IHSs.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the most progressive commodity among current information system applications. In-house development and sales of beneficial products are difficult for many software development and service companies (SDSCs). SDSCs have some implicit concerns about implementing AI software development due to the complexity of AI technology; they require an evaluation framework to avoid development failure. To fill the void, this study identified the factors influencing SDSCs when developing AI software development.

Based on complex adaptive systems theory, three aspects were developed as the main factors of hierarchy, namely, employees' capabilities, environmental resources and team capabilities. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) was used to assess the SDSCs' attitude. Based on SDSCs, attitudes toward implementing AI software projects were collected to calculate the hierarchy of factors.

The outcome of FAHP is used as understanding the key factors of SDSCs for selecting an AI software project, toward the improvement of overall project planning. Employees' stress resistance was considered as a priority for the project, although professional AI skills and resources were also important.

This study suggested three variables developed using complex adaptive systems. This study contributes to a better understanding of the critical aspects of developing AI software projects in SDSCs. The study's findings have practical and academic implications for SDSCs and subsequent academic development, broadening the scope of AI software development research.

This paper examines application lifecycle management (ALM) and how it can benefit the outsourcing of application development.

This is a viewpoint paper.

ALM products address the critical development needs of developers, IT managers, and CIOs by allowing all to function in a cohesive distributed environment with outsourced components.

The paper will be of interest to managers involved in the outsourcing of application development.

Presents the findings of a study which examined the impact of automation on the job satisfaction among library staff of the Margaret Thatcher Library (MTL), Moi University, Kenya. With the exception of the university librarian, his deputy and the systems librarian who were interviewed face to face, questionnaires were distributed to all other library staff. An 80 percent response rate resulted and data were coded and analysed. It was established that there were myriad problems within the library regarding training and access to automated systems of interest. However, MTL staff members viewed automation as enrichment and a source of satisfaction to their jobs. For automation to boost the staff members’ job satisfaction, concrete plans for consistent structured in‐house training, free access to the available software, additional systems staff, and centralised databases, among others, must be implemented.

To describe the establishment of a Swedish enterprise resource planning (ERP) competence centre (CC), with assistance from Finnish colleagues and modelled on their CC.

By outlining the input of Finnish colleagues and using the concept of the Finnish ERP CC, develops the history of the establishment of the Swedish model during 2001‐2003.

Following a European IT consultancy company building a new Baan CC in Sweden brings new lessons from the field. Reasons for failure were shown to be: a dropping market, high entry barriers and an underestimation of resources needed for building a new ERP CC. Barriers preventing success in the ERP business were found.

Corporate templates, migrated sites combined with aggressive competitors and demanding price conscious customers have changed the ERP maintenance business and made the organisation hierarchical. Difficulties for new entrants in the ERP service business where customers pick and change supplier.

Presented a unique case study that outlines and discusses the mentorship between Swedish and Finnish ERP CC initiatives.

This paper seeks to provide an overview of the major technical, organizational and legal issues pertaining to the outsourcing of IS/IT security services.

The paper uses a combined socio‐technical approach to explore the different aspects of IS/IT security outsourcing and suggests a framework for accommodating security and privacy requirements that arise in outsourcing arrangements.

Data protection requirements are a decisive factor for IS/IT security outsourcing, not only because they pose restrictions to management, but also because security and privacy concerns are commonly cited among the most important concerns prohibiting organizations from IS/IT outsourcing. New emerging trends such as outsourcing in third countries, pose significant new issues, with regard to meeting data protection requirements.

The paper illustrates the reasons for which the outsourcing of IS/IT security needs to be examined under a different perspective from traditional IS/IT outsourcing. It focuses on the specific issue of personal data protection requirements that must be accommodated, according to the European Union directive.

The education system globally has moved from a push‐based or producer‐centric system to a pull‐based or customer centric system. Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award (MBQA) model happens to be one of the latest additions to the pull based models. The purpose of this paper is to develop a generic framework for MBQA that can be used by educational institutes to achieve Baldrige quality operational excellence.

This paper traces back the history of the modern Pull education where the key driver is the latest research and needs of consumers through four major phases of western education. The first phase is the idealist phase where education was primarily religious and spiritual. The second is the realist phase where applied education was first introduced to solve practical societal issues. The third phase being the pragmatic phase, where anything, that was not needed, was put on the back‐burner. The last of these phases being the existentialist phase, which primarily started after the second world war and was needed to fuel the fires of rapid development and progress. MBQA is a new pull‐based philosophy operating in existentialist phase. This paper presents a case of University of Wisconsin‐Stout, which has won the MBQA. Based on the case, this paper proposes a generic framework.

Based on the analysis the generic Baldrige framework can be implemented using the following six steps: identification of stakeholders; definition of goals; proposal of KPIs; setting target KPI values; designing process; allocating resources; monitoring KPIs; and revising goals.

This model can be used by any education institute to improve quality and align itself under the pull‐based model.

Companies are increasingly changing their IT sourcing arrangements. Such changes often involve significant costs. The purpose of this paper is to explore and explain IT sourcing as a dynamic organizational phenomenon and to gain a deeper understanding of the drivers and outcomes of IT sourcing changes at organizational level.

A qualitative approach with interpretive analysis of historical data. Data are collected from companies through interviews and review of public documents where available.

The underlying tendencies of change are either primarily associated with institutional processes, or with what we term “IT‐driven” considerations. The perceived success of IT outsourcing in companies is dependent on these underlying tendencies.

This is an exploratory study and the findings on the underlying tendencies in change will be helpful in further theory development and research on IT outsourcing changes.

Knowledge coming from such research could help companies make more effective decisions about IT sourcing changes and set realistic expectations.

The dynamic perspective taken in this paper is different from the perspectives taken in earlier research where the researchers took cross‐sectional views of IT outsourcing arrangements. This paper shows the importance of re‐examining the reasons for change using the more encompassing concept of orientation.