Teses / dissertações sobre o tema "Information Systems curriculum design"

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Georgia Southern University, 2006.
"A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education." ETD. Includes bibliographical references (p. 144-157).

The purpose of this study was to survey information systems (IS) curriculum in Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited information systems programs across the United States, to evaluate current adherence to the IS 2010 curriculum guidelines, and to assess the number and type of career track developments initiated as a result of less stringent requirements in the new curriculum guidelines. In addition, an analysis was conducted to see if curriculum in AACSB-accredited information systems programs across the United States changed significantly since other similar evaluations reported in 1996 and 2006, and whether it is closer in adherence to the IS 2010 curriculum guidelines. The results of this study provided a current-state description of IS curriculums in the United States, specifically: (a) percentage adherance relationships and between AACSB-accredited information systems programs to IS 2010 curriculum guidelines; (b) defined curriculum profiles or latent class cluster characteristics of recent career track developments that have emerged; and (c) perceptions of adherence by the IS department faculty compared to the assessed adherence to IS 2010 curriculum guidelines. In the findings, a comprehensive view of the landscape for adherence to IS curriculum guidelines is discussed, including the following. (a) There is a wide range of adherence to the IS curriculum guidelines. In addition, none of the IS program assessed were either entirely compliant or not compliant at all. (b) Some topics are widely covered (over half) as core curriculum while other topics are offered as core curriculum in less than half of IS programs. (c) Very few IS programs have formally implemented the IS 2010 career track guideline recommendations. (d) IS programs implementing formal career tracks specify a reasonably small number of track options for students to consider. (e) IS programs that include career tracks provide unique offerings beyond the proposed sample tracks depicted in the IS 2010 curriculum guidelines. (f) There appear to be reasonably well-defined categories or clusters of IS programs as related to IS 2010 curriculum guideline adherence. (g) IS program faculty describe a higher perceived adherence to IS curriculum guidelines than what is actually assessed in this study. (228 pages)

An interpretivist investigation of computer-based business information systems was conducted in two commercial companies and two higher education institutes, by using both quantitative questionnaire survey and qualitative interview research methods. The investigation focused on the social and organisational context of information systems development and usage in these organisations. The utility of structured methodologies is now being questioned by some researchers who are calling for alternative approaches, and this investigation draws on that alternative strand of thinking. The collected data primarily reveals that the development and usage of information systems happens in changing organisations, which suggests that the design and usage of information systems must cater for such a changing or dynamic environment. Therefore the data is interpreted using a philosophical outlook encompassing the notion of "living" information systems and Critical Theory, and this philosophical stance regards information technology as liberating human endeavour in organisations. Five sub-concepts and the concept of deferred system's design are derived from the data, which have been formulated to account and cater for change in information systems environments. The concept of deferred system's design encourages the design of information systems which allow for organisational human behaviour, consisting of organisational change, uncertainty, and learning, to be mediated by information technology. A systems design principle called `deferred system's design decisions' is derived to enable designs of tailorable information systems, which may be regarded as one form of living information systems to facilitate such organisational behaviour. An intersubjective theoretical model called the spiral of change model of tailorable information systems is proposed to explain and understand better the changing organisational environment in which information systems must be developed and in which they must function. To inform practice a computer tool is proposed which enables conceptions of " tailorable information systems that employ the principle of deferred system's design decisions and enables modelling changing or dynamic information systems.

The need to provide currency in education in terms of the qualities and skills of graduates is a continuous requirement of higher education institutions. Industry expects that graduates from courses of study at universities have the necessary skills and attributes to be able to work in the modern work environment. The generic attribute agenda permeates all areas and sectors of education. Some of the areas of the generic attribute agenda include teaching, learning, assessment and the development of the generic attributes in students. This thesis specifically deals with a singular discipline, Information Systems, and the identification of the generic attributes applicable to this discipline. It does not attempt to enter the debate on the broader issues of how generic attributes are taught, assessed and developed in the educational sphere. The areas of teaching, learning, assessment and development of generic attributes in higher education are outside the scope of this thesis. This thesis presents an investigation of the extent of coverage of the identified generic attributes within the unit objectives. The generic attributes required from the Information Systems (IS) industry for graduates from IS courses of study were identified and validated using an extensive three round Delphi questionnaire of academics and industry representatives. Academic participants were from several Australian universities that offer IS undergraduate courses of study. Industry representatives were from the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) and local Australian IS industry employers that employ the graduates from the participating universities also took part in the survey. The validation process involved two surveys, one in Queensland and a second involving the other Australian states. The significant finding from this survey was that the attribute of working as part of a team in a productive and cooperative manner was rated as the most important. Other significant findings included the high correlation between the Queensland study and the national study in terms of the relative importance of the attributes. Another important finding is that the attribute relating to discipline knowledge was rated as relatively unimportant being ranked 13th out of 29 attributes. The extent of treatment of the attributes within a course of study was identified by means of mapping each of the unit objectives within a course of study against the generic attributes and then plotting this data on a Kiviat chart. The universities used in this study included Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Southern Cross University (SCU), Bond University and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology(RMIT). A similar mapping was performed for the major curriculum documents IS'97 Model Curriculum and Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Courses in Information Systems (IS'97), Information Systems-Centric Curriculum (ISCC'99) and the Australian Computer Society Core Body of Knowledge. Comparisons were then made between the curriculum documents and the courses of study in terms of the extent of treatment of the generic attributes. Statistical analysis of the combined data from both the Queensland and Australian studies identified eight underlying factors. These included Team Communications, Information Use, Individual Competencies, IS Knowledge, Professionalism, Project Management, Professional Development and Diversity. Team Communications are associated with the attributes of working as part of a team, oral communications, written communications, interpersonal skills, time management and define problems. Information Use is associated with the attributes of: retrieval, evaluation and use of information, and sensitivity to gender customs and cultures. Individual Competencies are associated with the attributes of: self-motivation, ability to learn independently, reflection on strengths and weaknesses and work independently. IS Knowledge is associated with the attributes of: programming language ability, IS knowledge, reference discipline knowledge and technical competence. Professionalism is associated with the attributes of: ethics, curiosity about technology, continuous learning and intellectual development, embracing change, and professional development. Project Management is associated with the attributes of: analyse and evaluate solutions, understand the profit motive of business, knowledge of business operations and its orientation, quality of solutions and project management skills. Professional Development is associated with the attributes of: research skills and related discipline knowledge. Diversity is associated with the attribute of operate in a diverse environment. An important finding from the mapping processes were that all the documents displayed a similar coverage of the generic attributes. All the graphs showed a strong treatment of IS discipline knowledge. IS'97 showed the strongest coverage of written and oral communications as compared to the other curriculum documents or the courses of study examined. A number of limitations were identified during the study. Some of the more important ones are: * This study identified a significant shortfall in the manner in which the objectives of the units of study that comprise IS courses of study at the tertiary level are written. The study found that the curriculum documents from the USA were often written with a specific number of objectives that often related to the length of the course or the number of times class was held during a week. In Australia the traditional unit has approximately 6-8 objectives. The objectives are often related to the content of the unit rather than what the student should be able to do at the end of the unit, in terms of the attributes identified by the university as being obtained by the students when they complete the course of study. * The lack of direct access to the large mailing list of the industry representative body. * The currency of the unit outline. * The fact that many course unit outlines are written when a course of study is accredited. This means that by the time the course of study is due for re-accreditation, that a long period of time has elapsed. This time period is often five years or more. In the IS discipline this is an extremely long period for any course of study to be accredited; * The emerging and constantly changing employer and IS professional desired attributes of graduates. This is a reflection of the changing nature of the IS environment. The fact that employers and IS professionals judge the quality of a university course based on what the graduates can actually do in the workplace; * There is a large difference between the percentage coverage of the model curriculum documents within the courses offered in the USA where they constitute approximately 30 percent of the total course content. In the Australian context the model curriculum coverage represents approximately 83 percent of the course content; * The study used curriculum documentation and there was no validation from a student perspective of what they learnt or what generic attributes were developed in units they studied; and, * The courses of study used in this research are restricted to the tertiary sector and the current educational offerings of universities in the states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, in Australia. While this may represent the views of the eastern part of the country, they may not be totally representative of the offerings for the country as a whole. One of the most important outputs from this research has been the development of a replicable methodology for determining the extent of coverage of the generic attributes within units and courses in other disciplines. The process would be to identify the relevant curriculum documents for the discipline and the Core Body of Knowledge from the associated professional association. The generic attributes that may have a specific context within the discipline need to be validated using a similar method such as the Delphi technique. Mapping of the generic attributes would then be done and a set of similar graphs produced. This research process meets the third research objective of producing a replicable methodology for mapping the unit objectives against the generic attributes. This study is unique in that it sought the views of both industry and academics of the required generic attribute of graduates from IS courses of study. The study then mapped the generic attributes against the unit objectives to give an indication of the extent of treatment or development during a student's course. In an attempt to increase the response rate to the Delphi study email was used as a medium for data collection. This provided the necessary data for the identification and validation of the importance of the generic attributes in a relatively short period of time as compared to the time that a traditional Delphi study would have taken. The email medium also allowed for the easy follow up of any questions raised during the course of the questionnaires. Delphi studies may now be conducted in a relatively short time frame. This will give the researchers the ability to publish their findings more quickly than other methods of conducting studies using the Delphi method. Individually addressed email, where this was possible, enhanced the response rate and provided the researcher with added anecdotal evidence from comments made in the reply to the survey instrument. The generic attributes need to be developed within the courses of study at the institutions examined in this study. Specifically the wording of objectives needs to reflect not only the content of the material to be covered but also the process through which the student gains that knowledge or competency. The elicitation of the generic attributes is required as part of the unit outline and should clearly demonstrate to students what skills they will be developing within a particular unit. This information is then able to form part of the accreditation submission for institutions seeking accreditation from professional bodies such as the ACS. From the process of gathering information for this study it became clear that the writers of the unit outlines need to have professional development in the writing of the unit objectives to address the inclusion of the generic attributes. The identification of generic attributes needs to be continually reviewed and a follow-up study is suggested to identify any longitudinal trends that may be evolving since this study commenced in 1998. This follow-up is needed because of significant changes in society may suggest that there are new and additional attributes that are now considered to be generic skills. The relationship between the generic attributes identified in this study and the multi-literacies (Millard Sheets Library, 2003. -http://www.otis.edu/library/infolit.htm, Accessed 12 January, 2004) that are now the focus of educators will provide the platform for a follow-up study of the generic attributes agenda.

The need to provide currency in education in terms of the qualities and skills of graduates is a continuous requirement of higher education institutions. Industry expects that graduates from courses of study at universities have the necessary skills and attributes to be able to work in the modern work environment. The generic attribute agenda permeates all areas and sectors of education. Some of the areas of the generic attribute agenda include teaching, learning, assessment and the development of the generic attributes in students. This thesis specifically deals with a singular discipline, Information Systems, and the identification of the generic attributes applicable to this discipline. It does not attempt to enter the debate on the broader issues of how generic attributes are taught, assessed and developed in the educational sphere. The areas of teaching, learning, assessment and development of generic attributes in higher education are outside the scope of this thesis. This thesis presents an investigation of the extent of coverage of the identified generic attributes within the unit objectives. The generic attributes required from the Information Systems (IS) industry for graduates from IS courses of study were identified and validated using an extensive three round Delphi questionnaire of academics and industry representatives. Academic participants were from several Australian universities that offer IS undergraduate courses of study. Industry representatives were from the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) and local Australian IS industry employers that employ the graduates from the participating universities also took part in the survey. The validation process involved two surveys, one in Queensland and a second involving the other Australian states. The significant finding from this survey was that the attribute of working as part of a team in a productive and cooperative manner was rated as the most important. Other significant findings included the high correlation between the Queensland study and the national study in terms of the relative importance of the attributes. Another important finding is that the attribute relating to discipline knowledge was rated as relatively unimportant being ranked 13th out of 29 attributes. The extent of treatment of the attributes within a course of study was identified by means of mapping each of the unit objectives within a course of study against the generic attributes and then plotting this data on a Kiviat chart. The universities used in this study included Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Southern Cross University (SCU), Bond University and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology(RMIT). A similar mapping was performed for the major curriculum documents IS'97 Model Curriculum and Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Courses in Information Systems (IS'97), Information Systems-Centric Curriculum (ISCC'99) and the Australian Computer Society Core Body of Knowledge. Comparisons were then made between the curriculum documents and the courses of study in terms of the extent of treatment of the generic attributes. Statistical analysis of the combined data from both the Queensland and Australian studies identified eight underlying factors. These included Team Communications, Information Use, Individual Competencies, IS Knowledge, Professionalism, Project Management, Professional Development and Diversity. Team Communications are associated with the attributes of working as part of a team, oral communications, written communications, interpersonal skills, time management and define problems. Information Use is associated with the attributes of: retrieval, evaluation and use of information, and sensitivity to gender customs and cultures. Individual Competencies are associated with the attributes of: self-motivation, ability to learn independently, reflection on strengths and weaknesses and work independently. IS Knowledge is associated with the attributes of: programming language ability, IS knowledge, reference discipline knowledge and technical competence. Professionalism is associated with the attributes of: ethics, curiosity about technology, continuous learning and intellectual development, embracing change, and professional development. Project Management is associated with the attributes of: analyse and evaluate solutions, understand the profit motive of business, knowledge of business operations and its orientation, quality of solutions and project management skills. Professional Development is associated with the attributes of: research skills and related discipline knowledge. Diversity is associated with the attribute of operate in a diverse environment. An important finding from the mapping processes were that all the documents displayed a similar coverage of the generic attributes. All the graphs showed a strong treatment of IS discipline knowledge. IS'97 showed the strongest coverage of written and oral communications as compared to the other curriculum documents or the courses of study examined. A number of limitations were identified during the study. Some of the more important ones are: * This study identified a significant shortfall in the manner in which the objectives of the units of study that comprise IS courses of study at the tertiary level are written. The study found that the curriculum documents from the USA were often written with a specific number of objectives that often related to the length of the course or the number of times class was held during a week. In Australia the traditional unit has approximately 6-8 objectives. The objectives are often related to the content of the unit rather than what the student should be able to do at the end of the unit, in terms of the attributes identified by the university as being obtained by the students when they complete the course of study. * The lack of direct access to the large mailing list of the industry representative body. * The currency of the unit outline. * The fact that many course unit outlines are written when a course of study is accredited. This means that by the time the course of study is due for re-accreditation, that a long period of time has elapsed. This time period is often five years or more. In the IS discipline this is an extremely long period for any course of study to be accredited; * The emerging and constantly changing employer and IS professional desired attributes of graduates. This is a reflection of the changing nature of the IS environment. The fact that employers and IS professionals judge the quality of a university course based on what the graduates can actually do in the workplace; * There is a large difference between the percentage coverage of the model curriculum documents within the courses offered in the USA where they constitute approximately 30 percent of the total course content. In the Australian context the model curriculum coverage represents approximately 83 percent of the course content; * The study used curriculum documentation and there was no validation from a student perspective of what they learnt or what generic attributes were developed in units they studied; and, * The courses of study used in this research are restricted to the tertiary sector and the current educational offerings of universities in the states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, in Australia. While this may represent the views of the eastern part of the country, they may not be totally representative of the offerings for the country as a whole. One of the most important outputs from this research has been the development of a replicable methodology for determining the extent of coverage of the generic attributes within units and courses in other disciplines. The process would be to identify the relevant curriculum documents for the discipline and the Core Body of Knowledge from the associated professional association. The generic attributes that may have a specific context within the discipline need to be validated using a similar method such as the Delphi technique. Mapping of the generic attributes would then be done and a set of similar graphs produced. This research process meets the third research objective of producing a replicable methodology for mapping the unit objectives against the generic attributes. This study is unique in that it sought the views of both industry and academics of the required generic attribute of graduates from IS courses of study. The study then mapped the generic attributes against the unit objectives to give an indication of the extent of treatment or development during a student's course. In an attempt to increase the response rate to the Delphi study email was used as a medium for data collection. This provided the necessary data for the identification and validation of the importance of the generic attributes in a relatively short period of time as compared to the time that a traditional Delphi study would have taken. The email medium also allowed for the easy follow up of any questions raised during the course of the questionnaires. Delphi studies may now be conducted in a relatively short time frame. This will give the researchers the ability to publish their findings more quickly than other methods of conducting studies using the Delphi method. Individually addressed email, where this was possible, enhanced the response rate and provided the researcher with added anecdotal evidence from comments made in the reply to the survey instrument. The generic attributes need to be developed within the courses of study at the institutions examined in this study. Specifically the wording of objectives needs to reflect not only the content of the material to be covered but also the process through which the student gains that knowledge or competency. The elicitation of the generic attributes is required as part of the unit outline and should clearly demonstrate to students what skills they will be developing within a particular unit. This information is then able to form part of the accreditation submission for institutions seeking accreditation from professional bodies such as the ACS. From the process of gathering information for this study it became clear that the writers of the unit outlines need to have professional development in the writing of the unit objectives to address the inclusion of the generic attributes. The identification of generic attributes needs to be continually reviewed and a follow-up study is suggested to identify any longitudinal trends that may be evolving since this study commenced in 1998. This follow-up is needed because of significant changes in society may suggest that there are new and additional attributes that are now considered to be generic skills. The relationship between the generic attributes identified in this study and the multi-literacies (Millard Sheets Library, 2003. -http://www.otis.edu/library/infolit.htm, Accessed 12 January, 2004) that are now the focus of educators will provide the platform for a follow-up study of the generic attributes agenda.

In this thesis, the management of product information in concurrent design systems has been investigated with particular reference to product development in small and medium enterprise (SME) industry and design education at polytechnic level in Singapore. From a critical review of the relevant literature on product design and development processes, concurrent engineering, concurrent design systems, product data management and related methods, it is found that there is a clear need for a new design of a system for organizing and managing product information in a concurrent design environment in the above contexts. This finding has led to the development of a conceptual rationale, termed the Design Tensor Method, and the design and development of an innovative product information management system called PRIMAS. PRIMAS is a systematic methodology for the classification, organization, integration, communication, storage and management of product information in the product development process. A software prototype based on PRIMAS has been subsequently developed. PRIMAS along with its conceptual principles have been applied and tested in a product design project in a tertiary educational institution and in two significant industrial product development projects based respectively in two SMEs. Positive evaluation feedback on PRIMAS has been obtained in these studies. The product development projects investigated with PRIMAS have also produced outcomes that meet the original specified design requirements. The findings from this research have led to the conclusion that PRIMAS is a viable product information management system that can be used effectively for managing product information in concurrent design projects in SME industry and design education. Substantial PRIMAS databases of useful product information have been compiled for the product development projects investigated with PRIMAS. Finally, recommendations are made for future research.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1998.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-55).
As we begin to comprehend the ways we interact with the data/information/knowledge structures which construct our individual perception of reality, we see a shift from the dyadic Cartesian method of reading our environment, to a triadic, or Systems View, which accounts for individual perceptual readings and individual realities. This shift in thinking relates that we are dynamic, self-organizing, complex systems which form an individual perception of our environment based on the relationships we identify between ourselves and the interrelated systems of data/information around us. Recognizing this shift, the research project associated with this thesis, utilizes interactive digital multimedia, or hypermedia, in the design of a set of tools with which to identify and illustrate these interrelated systems. It is the author's belief that once identified, these dynamic relationships will provide an ideal source of user-defined navigation of the group of interrelated objects. The dynamic qualities of hypermedia, which provide the author different modes of linking information of many different data types to one another, making it an ideal venue for the illustration and navigation of systemic relationships. Employing two and three dimensional methods of visual and spatial representation, integrated with in various combinations of graphic organizational models, the product of th is thesis will provide the user an information-rich environment in which to identify and navigate the associative relationships found amongst a group of physical objects, in th is case furniture of modern design. The thesis also looks ahead to speculate on the impact of emerging technologies such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Tangible User Interfaces, on the design of information knowledge "spaces". The author will propose a future implementation of these technologies in relation to the current subject of illustration.
by Andrew F. Miller.
S.M.

In recent years there have been repeated calls for universities to better equip students with skills which are relevant to business and industry. The field of Information Systems (IS), along with the wider discipline of computing, has often been described as outdated, slow to adopt new technologies and unable to keep up with the fast pace of change of the real world . Exacerbating the issue of academic relevance in relation to industry needs, universities around the world have experienced a growing disinterest in the study of IS and computing, resulting in worryingly low levels of new graduates who do not meet industry demands. To understand the contentious relationship between academia and business in relation to IS, the research presented in this thesis investigates the current IS undergraduate provision in the UK and its alignment with the skill requirements of the IS industry. This is achieved through a two-stage approach of examining the position and expectations of each stakeholder, followed by the development of a method to facilitate the alignment of their inter-related needs. As part of the first stage, the investigation into the academic stakeholder undertakes a holistic analysis of IS curriculum to quantify its content. This leads to the identification of original Career Tracks which specify the IS careers promoted by the curriculum. The second stage involves the investigation of the business stakeholder measuring the careers in demand and the skills that support them. The resulting findings from these investigations show that it is possible to determine the skills required by IS graduates in the UK to meet the demands of industry. This is achieved through the use of a newly developed IS Course Survey Framework that enables the configuration of IS courses to align to specific career tracks, thus mapping directly to the needs of industry as expressed through their job requirements and associated skills demand.

This thesis encompasses a Welding Information System for Design, Operations, and Methods (WISDOM). In essence, the WISDOM project aimed at research and development of an innovative and comprehensive information collection on welding in close cooperation with industry utilizing modern micro-computer techniques of information review, retrieval, storage, updating, and transfer. Emphasis is placed on new and more efficient methods of knowledge communication, pursuing the idea of exploring knowledge (in contrast to rehearsing recipes). The development of this project concentrated on the following three main topics: 1. Background information on steel metallurgy and welding 2. Analysis and Design Methods for Welded Connections 3. Code Requirements of Welds Preliminary research on the WISDOM project involved communications with industry to determine primary objectives. The need for an information system on welding was unquestionably apparent. The knowledge base is supplemented with graphic images and analysis and design programs. It is hoped that the information in this system will be delivered to the engineer in an efficient and useful manner. The priority here is to raise welding awareness while promoting efficient welded design. In addition, we hope that the WISDOM system will close the ever widening gap between the design engineer and the fabricator. In the most general sense, the primary objective of the WISDOM project was to produce an integrated self-paced teaching tool for both engineering professional and student alike. The versatility of the system is maintained by presenting the information in modular form. Screen graphics oriented learning modules encourage the user to become more involved in the learning process than more conventional teaching methods allow. Analysis and design modules promote rapid and efficient connection design in a more consistent and professional manner. A smooth transition from the learning environment to engineering practice is envisioned by providing realistic design tools with a transparent background.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Civil Engineering, Department of
Graduate

Abstract When implementing their information security solutions organizations have typically focused on technical and procedural security measures. However, from the information systems (IS) point of view, this is not enough: effective IS security requires that users are aware of and use the available security measures as described in their organizations' information security policies and instructions. Otherwise, the usefulness of the security measures is lost. The research question of this thesis is to explore how IS users' compliance with IS security policies and instructions can be improved. Solving this research question is divided into two steps. Since there is a lack of a comprehensive review of existing IS security awareness approaches, the first step aims at reviewing the existing IS security awareness approaches. This kind of analysis is useful for practitioners as they do not necessarily have the time to go through a large body of literature. For scholars, such an analysis shows what areas of IS security awareness have been studied, and to where the need for future research is of greatest importance. The second step in this dissertation is to address the shortcomings detected by the analysis by developing three novel design theories for improving IS users' security behavior: (1) IS security awareness training, (2) IS security awareness campaigns, and (3) punishment and reward. These design theories aim to help practitioners to develop their own IS security awareness approaches. Finally, testing of the design theory for IS security awareness training (1) in two action research interventions is described. The results of the interventions suggest that this design theory provides a useful and applicable means for developing a training program in organizations. In addition, the results provide empirically evaluated information regarding the obstacles to user compliance with IS security policies and instructions. In the action research studies described, the goal was to solve practical problems experienced by the host organizations and to understand them and the results achieved from the viewpoint of theory. Consequently, the results as such can not be generalized, but they are of use in the host organizations in planning and delivering subsequent IS security awareness training programs. In addition, the results are utilizable in similar organizations as a point of departure in planning IS security awareness training programs.

Enterprise information systems are increasingly being developed as distributed information systems. Quality attributes of distributed information systems, as in the centralised case, should be evaluated as early and as accurately as possible in the software engineering process. In particular, software measures associated with quality attributes of such systems should consider the characteristics of modern distributed technologies. Early design decisions have a deep impact on the implementation of distributed enterprise information systems and thus, on the ultimate quality of the software as an operational entity. Due to the fact that the distributed-software engineering process affords software engineers a number of design alternatives, it is important to develop tools and guidelines that can be used to assess and compare design artefacts quantitatively. This dissertation makes a contribution to the field of Software Engineering by proposing and evaluating software design measures for distributed enterprise information systems. In previous research, measures developed for distributed software have been focused in code attributes, and thus, only provide feedback towards the end of the software engineering process. In contrast, this thesis proposes a number of specific design measures that provide quantitative information before the implementation. These measures capture attributes of the structure and behaviour of distributed information systems that are deemed important to assess their quality attributes, based on the analysis of the problem domain. The measures were evaluated theoretically and empirically as part of a well defined methodology. On the one hand, we have followed a formal framework based on the theory of measurement, in order to carry out the theoretical validation of the proposed measures. On the other hand, the suitability of the measures, to be used as indicators of quality attributes, was evaluated empirically with a robust statistical technique for exploratory research. The data sets analysed were gathered after running several experiments and replications with a distributed enterprise information system. The results of the empirical evaluation show that most of the proposed measures are correlated to the quality attributes of interest, and that most of these measures may be used, individually or in combination, for the estimation of these quality attributes-namely efficiency, reliability and maintainability. The design of a distributed information system is modelled as a combination of its structure, which reflects static characteristics, and its behaviour, which captures complementary dynamic aspects. The behavioural measures showed slightly better individual and combined results than the structural measures in the experimentation. This was in line with our expectations, since the measures were evaluated as indicators of non-functional quality attributes of the operational system. On the other hand, the structural measures provide useful feedback that is available earlier in the software engineering process. Finally, we developed a prototype application to collect the proposed measures automatically and examined typical real-world scenarios where the measures may be used to make design decisions as part of the software engineering process.

This dissertation investigates the relationship between the information systems (IS) development context, and the context in which such systems are used. Misunderstandings and ambiguities emerge in the space between these contexts and often result in construction of systems that fail to meet the requirements and expectations of their intended users. This study explores this problem using an approach derived from three largely separate and distinct fields: explanation facilities in information systems, theories of explanation, and design rationale. Explanation facilities are typically included in knowledge-based information systems, where their purpose is to provide system users with the underlying reasons for why the system reaches a particular conclusion or makes a particular recommendation. Prior research suggests that the presence of an explanation facility leads to increased acceptance of these conclusions and recommendations, therefore enhancing system usability. Theory of explanation is a field of study in which philosophers attempt to describe the unique nature of explanation and to identify criteria for explanation evaluation. Design rationale research is concerned with the capture, representation, and use of the deep domain and artefact knowledge that emerges from the design process. The design rationale approach goes beyond specification and suggests that to understand a system requires knowledge of the arguments that led to its realisation. This study proposes a model of IS explanation structure and content derived from formal theories of explanation with a method for obtaining this content based on design rationale. The study has four goals: to derive a theory of explanation specific to the domain of information systems; to examine this definition empirically through a study involving IS development and management professionals; to investigate in a case study whether the information needed to populate the explanation model can be captured using design rationale techniques; and construction of prototype software to deliver explanations per the proposed framework.

Thesis (M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2001.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-105).
by Brian A. Purville.
M.Eng.

This system is concerned with the design and implementation of a community health information system which fulfils some of the local needs of fourteen nursing and para-medical professions in a district health authority, whilst satisfying the statutory requirements of the NHS Korner steering group for those professions. A national survey of community health computer applications, documented in the form of an applications register, shows the need for such a system. A series of general requirements for an informations systems design methodology are identified, together with specific requirements for this problem situation. A number of existing methodologies are reviewed, but none of these were appropriate for this application. Some existing approaches, tools and techniques are used to define a more suitable methodology. It is unreasonable to rely on one single general methodology for all types of application development. There is a need for pragmatism, adaptation and flexibility. In this research, participation in the development stages by those who will eventually use the system was thought desirable. This was achieved by forming a representative design group. Results would seem to show a highly favourable response from users to this participation which contributed to the overall success of the system implemented. A prototype was developed for the chiropody and school nursing staff groups of Darlington health authority, and evaluations show that a significant number of the problems and objectives of those groups have been successfully addressed; the value of community health information has been increased; and information has been successfully fed back to staff and better utilised.

This research studies information systems that adapt to the context in which they are used and provides recommendations on how the design of such systems can be improved. This thesis covers the problem of context-awareness via two case studies in the insurance and transportation industries. The study highlights shortcomings in the understanding of the relationship between information systems and context. Furthermore, it presents a new, theory-informed approach to design, and provides guidance for system developers seeking to implement context-aware information systems.

Estimating the polarization of light has been shown to have merit in a wide variety of applications between UV and LWIR wavelengths. These tasks include target identification, estimation of atmospheric aerosol properties, biomedical and other applications. In all of these applications, polarization sensing has been shown to assist in discrimination ability; however, due to the nature of many phenomena, it is difficult to add polarization sensing everywhere. The goal of this dissertation is to decrease the associated penalties of using polarimetry, and thereby broaden its applicability to other areas.

First, the class of channeled polarimeter systems is generalized to relate the Fourier domains of applied modulations to the resulting information channels. The quality of reconstruction is maximized by virtue of using linear system manipulations rather than arithmetic derived by hand, while revealing system properties that allow for immediate performance estimation. Besides identifying optimal systems in terms of equally weighted variance (EWV), a way to redistribute the error between all the information channels is presented. The result of this development often leads to superficial changes that can improve signal-to-noise-ration (SNR) by up to a factor of three compared to existing designs in the literature.

Second, the class of partial Mueller maitrx polarimeters (pMMPs) is inspected in regards to their capacity to match the level of discrimination performance achieved by full systems. The concepts of structured decomposition and the reconstructables matrix are developed to provide insight into Mueller subspace coverage of pMMPs, while yielding a pMMP basis that allows the formation of ten classes of pMMP systems. A method for evaluating such systems while considering a multi-objective optimization of noise resilience and space coverage is provided. An example is presented for which the number of measurements was reduced to half.

Third, the novel developments intended for channeled and partial systems are combined to form a previously undiscussed class of channeled partial Mueller matrix polarimeters (c-pMMPs). These systems leverage the gained understanding in manipulating the structure of the measurement to design modulations such that the desired pieces of information are mapped into channels with favorable reconstruction characteristics.

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.

Today a paradigm shift in the field of organisation and management theories is no longer disputed and the need to switch from the Command-and-Control to the Leaming Organisation Paradigm (LOP) in the area of organisational theory is well understood. However, it is less well appreciated that learning organisations cannot operate effectively if supported by centralised databases and tailor-made application programs. LOP emphasises adaptability, flexibility, participation and learning. It is important to understand that the changes in organisational and management strategies will not on their own be able to produce the desired effects unless they are supported by appropriate changes in organisational culture, and by effective information systems. This research demonstrates that conventional information system strategies and development methods are no longer adequate. Information system strategies must respond to these needs of the LOP and incorporate new information systems that are capable of evolving, adapting and responding to the constantly changing business environment. The desired adaptability, flexibility and agility in information systems for LOP can be achieved by exploiting the technologies of the Internet, World Wide Web, intelligent agents and intranets. This research establishes that there is a need for synergy between organisational structures and organisational information systems. To obtain this desired synergy it is essential that new information systems be designed as an integral part of the learning organisational structure itself. Complexity theory provides a new set of metaphors and a host of concepts for the understanding of organisations as complex adaptive systems. This research introduces the principles of Complex Adaptive Systems and draws on their significance for designing the information systems needed to support the new generation of learning organisations. The search for new models of information system strategies for today's dynamic world of business points to the 'swarm models' observed in Nature.

Abstract Critical environmental situation requires academics and practitioners of various disciplines join efforts at planning sustainable development of the society. In information systems research, Green Information Systems and Technologies domain is the one that directly contributes to strengthening environmental values of individuals, communities, and organizations. Abundance of technology influences people most of the time. Although this influence is not always positive, research on persuasive technologies and behavior change support systems searches for the beneficial ways to utilize the impact of information systems on the daily activities of individuals. Ability to assist with encouraging certain behaviors is a defining characteristic of many contemporary systems and devices. Building on the knowledge obtained from the health domain, this dissertation investigates using persuasive technologies for fostering pro-environmental behavior change. Theoretical frameworks of the articles included in the dissertation are based primarily on the Persuasive Systems Design (PSD) model, accompanied by the other prominent socio-psychological theories commonly utilized in information systems research. This dissertation focuses on finding out how to encourage people to adopt and continue using mobile applications designed to assist with acquiring sustainable habits and behaviors. The dissertation is composed of the historical analysis, systematic literature review, and four experimental studies that explore different aspects of persuasive Green IS/IT. Besides analyzing existing research using PSD model as a tool for evaluation, new empirical studies provide fresh insights on Green IS/IT designed for behavior change. Addressed topics include technology adoption and continuance intention, perceived persuasiveness, self-disclosure and risk, endogenous motivations, gamification, and cognitive absorption. Conducted statistical analyses investigate relationships among PSD constructs and other related concepts to discover factors that can convince people initiate and continue using Green IS/IT to develop or maintain environmentally sound practices. Overall, the results reveal a high potential of the PSD model to become a vehicle for enhancement of the existing Green IS/IT. The dissertation provides implications for both academics and practitioners as well as suggestions for the future evolvement of persuasive Green IS/IT research
Tiivistelmä Ympäristön ja ilmaston vakava tilanne vaatii kaikilta osapuolilta kestävää kehitystä tukevaa toimintaa. Niin sanotut ‘vihreät’ tietojärjestelmät ja informaatioteknologiat pyrkivät vaikuttamaan ihmisten käyttäytymiseen vahvistamalla yksilöiden, yhteisöjen ja organisaatioiden ympäristöarvoja ja niiden mukaista käyttäytymistä. Yltäkylläinen teknologiatarjonta vaikuttaa käyttäytymiseemme koko ajan. Vaikka tämä vaikutus ei aina olekaan positiivista, vakuuttavien ja suostuttelevien teknologioiden sekä käyttäytymisen muutosta tukevien järjestelmien tutkimus pyrkii etsimään niitä hyödyllisiä keinoja, joilla tietojärjestelmien avulla voidaan vaikuttaa myönteisesti jokapäiväiseen elämäämme. Monien nykyaikaisten järjestelmien ja laitteiden perusominaisuutena voidaankin nykyään pitää niiden kykyä rohkaista ja kannustaa käyttäjiä myönteiseen kohdekäyttäytymiseen. Tämä väitöskirja rakentuu erityisesti terveystoimialalta omaksuttuun suostuttelevia teknologioita koskevaan tutkimustietoon ja pyrkii soveltamaan tätä ympäristöystävällisen käyttäytymisen vahvistamiseen. Tämän väitöstutkimuksen johtavana teoreettisena viitekehityksenä toimii Persuasive Systems Design -malli (PSD). Sen lisäksi hyödynnetään joitakin muita tietojärjestelmätutkimuksessa hyödynnettyjä sosiaalipsykologian teorioita. Väitöskirja keskittyy tarkastelemaan, miten voidaan kannustaa ottamaan käyttöön mobiilisovelluksia, jotka on jo alun perin suunniteltu tukemaan kestävän kehityksen kannalta myönteistä käyttäytymistä ja käyttäytymisen muutosta, sekä jatkamaan niiden käyttöä. Väitöskirja koostuu aihealueen historiallisesta analyysistä ja systemaattisesta kirjallisuuskatsauksesta sekä neljästä kokeellisesta tutkimuksesta, jotka tutkivat ’vihreiden’ tietojärjestelmien ja informaatioteknologioiden vakuuttavia ja suostuttelevia ohjelmisto-ominaisuuksia. Sen lisäksi että olemassa olevaa kirjallisuutta on analysoitu PSD-mallia käyttäen, samaan malliin pohjautuvat empiiriset tutkimukset tuottavat tuoreita oivalluksia käyttäytymisen muutosta tukevaan suunnitteluun liittyen. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan teknologian käyttöönottoa, aikomuksia jatkaa teknologian käyttöä, koettua vakuuttavuutta ja suostuttelevuutta, sensitiivisten tietojen jakamista ja siihen liittyviä riskejä, sisäsyntyistä motivaatiota, pelillistämistä sekä kognitiivista absorptiota. Tilastollisten analyysien avulla tarkastellaan PSD-mallin ydinkäsitteiden ja muiden konstruktien välisiä suhteita, jotta tunnistettaisiin niitä tekijöitä, joiden avulla voidaan vaikuttaa hyödyllisten ‘vihreiden’ tietojärjestelmien ja informaatioteknologioiden käyttöönottoon ja käytön jatkamiseen, ja yleisemmin kannustamaan ympäristöystävällisiin käytänteisiin. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat PSD-mallin merkityksen kestävää kehitystä tukeville tietojärjestelmille ja informaatioteknologioille. Suoritetun tutkimuksen perusteella ehdotetaan teemoja jatkotutkimusta varten. Väitöstutkimuksen tuloksilla on merkitystä sekä tieteenharjoittajille että käytännön soveltajille

Technology has significantly influenced human lifestyle, industrial sector, businesses and the way people interact with each other. Evidently, information technology is no longer a neutral tool. Intentionally or otherwise, system designers and developers influence our attitudes and/or behaviors for varying motives including promotion of socially valued activities. However, promoting moral values using technologies raises several ethical concerns. For example, what might be ethical for one person could be completely unethical from the other. Moral justification of persuasive systems requires involving all stakeholders in a rationale and open argumentation process. The moral issues are difficult to perceive and comprehend and more importantly, the entire process involves different stakeholders with conflicting viewpoints. Therefore, it is challenging to find an optimal solution to satisfy all stakeholders and argumentation process encompasses both cognitive and social complexities. In an attempt to address the problem; this study outlines an argumentation-based design rationale application. The proposed solution is to mitigate social and cognitive complexities pertaining to moral justification process. The main aim of this thesis is to study construction and evaluation of the said solution in order to facilitate reflective design and evaluation of persuasive information systems. This study follows formal problem-centric approach and was conducted by applying Design Science Research (DSR) methodology. We carried out an experiment to examine socio-technical aspects of the designed artifact focusing on system usefulness and its effect on the problem context. System usefulness of the artifact was studied by analyzing perceived usefulness and usability of the solution from participants’ opinions. The intended implication of this study was to examine that argumentation-based design rationale could potentially decrease complexity of argumentation process. Likewise, it could lead to improved communication and reasoning between stakeholders. These aspects do not guarantee design and development of information systems that are morally justifiable by all standards. However, it is suggested that there are certain prerequisites that are needed for moral justification of persuasive information systems. From a practical perspective, we developed and evaluated a discourse-supported application that effectively establishes rationale and autonomous communication process. Theoretically, we acknowledge that three major aspects of argumentation-based design rationale applications including communication, reasoning and problem comprehension capabilities have a significant influence on mitigating social and cognitive complexities of ethical reflection relating to persuasive information systems.

The ability to work effectively in teams has been a key competence for information systems engineers for a long time. Gradually, more attention is being paid to developing this generic competence as part of academic curricula, resulting in two questions: how to best promote team competencies and how to implement team projects successfully. These questions are closely interwoven and need to be looked at together. To address these questions, this paper identifies relevant studies and approaches, best practices, and key findings in the field of information systems education and related fields such as computer science and business, and examines them together to develop a systematic framework. The framework is intended to categorize existing research on teams and team competencies in information systems education and to guide information systems educators in supporting teamwork and promoting team competencies in students at the course and curricular level in the context of teaching in tertiary education.

This thesis is concerned with a new approach to Information Systems Security management for an e-business organisation. One of the characteristics of a modern organisation (and especially of an e-business organisation) is the distribution of organisational resources and assets. Management of resources is also distributed between various hierarchical functions. With the move to an e-business mode, the number of users involved in business operations has increased, and these users (both inside and outside the organisation) need access to the organisation's information. Hence, the organisational IT perimeter has necessarily become much more frequently and easily crossed. Thus the modern business environment makes the effectiveness of the perimeter security approach highly questionable. The challenge addressed here is to develop a model for e-business security that provides an alternative approach to both the way security is viewed and the way it is designed and managed. The new paradigm (approach) for e-business organisation security suggested here is a business-process oriented security paradigm. The design of the novel paradigm and the development of the methodology rest on the belief that modern business and technological systems are complex dynamic systems. Security will then be achieved by focusing on a specified set of security requirements, and by securing the business logic and individual information flows of an e-process. Using the new security paradigm, a methodology for its implementation is presented, in the form of an e-Business Process Security Methodology (eBPSM), which identifies and describes the sequence of the phases that should be performed. Each phase is defined in terms of the level of the organisational hierarchy, professionals, tasks, outcomes, and phase specifics. The methodology was tested on a real-life case study of an aviation company. The company and its Information Systems were analysed, and the online ordering process served as the basis for a test implementation of the newly suggested methodology. An evaluation of the methodology and opinions on its feasibility were provided by information security professionals from academia and industry. The research is expected to contribute to both business and academia, both at a practical and a theoretical level. There are four main novel aspects of the work described in this thesis: 1. a new business process-based security paradigm is proposed; 2. modern business and technological systems are approached as complex dynamic systems; 3. an approach to information security design and management is proposed that focuses on business logic and the information flows of an e-process; 4. a new set of information security requirements is suggested.

Abstract User involvement in information systems design has recently gained interest in the media. Numerous systems have been digitalized during product development to help people’s everyday lives. But are information systems designed to meet users’ needs or support users’ goals? The goal of this research was to understand how user involvement is perceived in information systems design and how users are involved. Is the basis of user involvement what a user Says or what a user Does, or is a user actively participating in the whole design process? The informants of the present study entailed different design projects that were investigated with a qualitative method by interviewing 20 designers of selected design cases. At first an a priori model of user involvement in information systems design was created based on an analysis of extant literature. The model was used in the analysis of information systems design cases. Based on the empirical data a revised, a posteriori model, UICD model was developed. The UICD model provides on overall picture of user involvement in information systems design. UICD model can aid designers to understand user involvement comprehesively: what users Say, what users Do and what users Make in design process. Compared to the a priori model, UICD model includes the impact of other key stakeholders in information systems design process
Tiivistelmä Käyttäjien osallistuttaminen tietojärjestelmien suunnitteluun on herättänyt julkista keskustelua. Monia yhteiskunnallisia ja yksityisiä palveluja on digitalisoitu sekä tuotteiden yhteyteen on suunniteltu järjestelmiä helpottamaan asiakkaiden toimintaa. Mutta ovatko suunnittelut ratkaisut käyttäjän tavoitteiden mukaisia ja vastaavatko ne käyttäjien tarpeisiin? Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli ymmärtää kuinka käyttäjien osallistuttaminen käsitetään informaatiojärjestelmien suunnittelussa ja miten käyttäjiä on osallistettu. Perustuuko käyttäjien osallistuttaminen tietoon siitä mitä hän sanoo tai mitä hän tekee vai osallistuuko hän koko suunnitteluprosessin ajan tulevan ratkaisun kehittämiseen? Tutkimuksen kohteina oli 20 erilaista projektia, joihin syvennyttiin laadullisella tutkimuksella haastattelemalla projekteissa toimineita suunnittelijoita. Tässä tutkimuksessa laadittiin ensin kirjallisuuskatsaukseen pohjalta malli käyttäjien osallistuttamisesta informaatiojärjestelmien suunnittelutyöhön. Mallia käytettiin empiirisesti kerätyn tiedon analyysin pohjana. Tämän jälkeen mallia muokattiin siten, että se selittää tutkimuksen havainnot. Näin saatu UICD malli luo kokonaiskuvan käyttäjälähtöisyyden ulottuvuuksista informaatiojärjestelmien suunnittelutyössä. UICD malli auttaa suunnittelijoita ymmärtämään käyttäjien osallistuttamisen kokonaisvaltaisesti: mitä käyttäjät sanovat, mitä käyttäjät tekevät ja miten käyttäjät osallistuvat informaatiojärjestelmien suunnitteluun. UICD malli laajentaa aiemman tutkimuksen näkemystä muun muassa keskeisten sidosryhmien vaikutuksesta informaatiojärjestelmien suunnitteluun

While IS research into on-line Inter-Personal (IP) Social Networks (SN) is highly visible, there has been surprisingly little focus on the use of on-line social networks for Inter-Organizational (IO) communications, interactions, and goal achievement. We explore the issues and challenges facing organizations in their design and use of inter-organizational social network information systems (IO SNIS). Artifact design principles are drawn from a new and insightful model that contrasts the advantages of existing innovative inter-personal (IP) SNIS artifacts with Social Network Theory on differences between IP and IO Social Networks. This research extends the existing streams of IS social networking research into the inter-organizational domain and encourages additional IS research into the analysis, design, and build of artifacts that animate the social behavior of organizations. We develop a key design concept for IO SNIS and establish the design principles underlying the general artifact design and the specific design features that apply the design constructs to an exemplar IO social domain. This dissertation uses Action Design Research (ADR) approach within the Design Science Research (DSR) paradigm to formulate the research opportunity and anticipate a practice-inspired and theory-ingrained artifact. The researcher works with a practitioner team in the domain of mid-market private equity (MMPE) to explore the model and evaluate existing on-line inter-organizational artifacts to establish specific design features for an IO SNIS artifact. We find that the design principles can generalize from the IO SNIS Design Concept Model to other IO Social domains and that the design features can be used to build an instantiation of IO SNIS in the Private Equity domain.

This research used design science research methods to develop, instantiate, implement, and measure the acceptance of a novel software artefact. The primary purpose of this software artefact was to enhance data collection, improve its quality and enable its capture in classroom environments without distracting from the teaching activity. The artefact set is an iOS app, with supporting web services and technologies designed in response to teacher and pastoral care needs. System analysis and design used Enterprise Architecture methods. The novel component of the iOS app implemented proximity detection to identify the student through their iPad and automatically link to that student's data. The use of this novel software artefact and web services was trialled in a school setting, measuring user acceptance and system utility. This integrated system was shown to improve the accuracy, consistency, completeness and timeliness of captured data and the utility of the input and reporting systems.

Complexity and uncertainty have long been problems for organizations of all types. Organizational members do not do a very good job of dealing with the complexity and uncertainty as research shows that when faced with complex situations humans often turn to the same sources of information repeatedly (a practice that will eventually betray them), and/or reduce the amount of scanning that they do (Weick 1995; Boyd and Fulk 1996). Organizations often turn to information systems to help them deal with the complexity, but they often take a techno-centric view of knowledge that does not incorporate the human qualities needed for unstructured decisions (Malhotra 1997; Courtney 2001; Malhotra 2001). Additionally, there are times when the information systems that we are using may hinder the processes of dealing with the complexity (Weick and Meader 1993). Weick's (1995) concept of sensemaking is believed to help us to deal with this complexity. In his work with Meader (1993) he wonders what the effects of a sensemaking support system would have, but he does not have the answer because they state that it has not been asked. This dissertation answers the call of Weick and Meader as well as other scholars that have called for sensemaking and human intuition to be included in our information systems. This is accomplished by viewing sensemaking from an inquiring systems perspective (Churchman 1971) to develop a kernel theory that will be used in the context of design science to develop design requirements and principles for a sensemaking system. These design principles are then used to build an instantiation of the system in the form of SenseMan, a system designed to help a local government agency deal with complexity in the context of software updates. Finally the design is evaluated for its effectiveness in dealing with the complexity of in this context using both quantitative and qualitative methods.
Ph.D.
Department of Management Information Systems
Business Administration
Business Administration PhD

This project is a continuation of research work done by (Asif, 2009) which proposed an extended architecture of Mobile Student Information System (MSIS) to integrate the systems available for the students to provide student centric services on mobile devices. The architecture was developed by using Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) to provide services for collaboration and communication among the students or between students and the teachers. The mobile services are built by integrating MSIS to Twitter, Feed based systems and NTNU email system. The services have the potential to provide students an experience of a virtual environment of class, project work and discussion groups anytime-anywhere. The project has been carried out in accordance with design-science research model over a number of implementation and evaluation iterations. A user-driven evaluation of the MSIS service has been conducted among a diverse group of NTNU students. The utility as well as the usability of the system were evaluated by applying observational and empirical evaluation methods in a real-world environment at the university. The usability test identified few issues with the initial design of services, and received feedback for enhancements. The Mobile Service Acceptance Model (MSAM) has been used to examine the factors that are influential for user adoption of mobile services in the light of this project. The MSAM instrument measures different facets of a mobile information service, such as the perceived usefulness, ease of use, and usage intention. Our findings confirm that the utility of the student centric mobile services are perceived as high, and students would likely benefit from such kind of services. There is no doubt about the great potential for a service like MSIS and it is believed to be a useful addition to the existing systems.

Information systems design was investigated and a model was developed aimed obtaining organisational advantages through quality and participation. This was developed by connecting high quality information assurance in an IS to the needs of the organisation and incorporating the users in the development through participation factors.

The model generates a instruction that connects the impact on the individual and organisation when developing an IS to the organisational benefits. Its purpose is to enable the benefits of motivation, awareness and empowerment.

We applied the model using the case study approach for connecting the model to a real life situation. The results provided a blueprint to implement the IS design strategy and may be investigated later to verify if the advantages were reached.

The work is of great interest to project managers, software developers and programmers

Design av informationssystem var undersökt. En modell togs fram med målet att knyta organisatoriska fördelar från kvalitet och medverkan av organisationen i framtagandet av ett IS. Modellen skapades utifrån två ståndpunkter, hög kvalitet på datasäkerhet och de behov som finns inom organisationen samt en inkorporerad medverkan av användarna i framtagandet av IS.

Modellen fungerar som en instruktion med målet att koppla påverkan på organisationen samt individen av att implementera ett IS till de organisatoriska fördelarna genererade av förändringen. Resultatet möjliggör fördelarna av motivation, medvetenhet och empowerment hos organisationen samt individen.

Vi applicerade modellen i ett verkligt företag. Resultatet blev en beskrivning för realisering av en IS designstrategi. Denna strategi bör senare bli utvärderad för att säkerställa att det önskade målet har uppnåtts.

Detta arbete skulle kunna intressera projektledare, mjukvara utvecklare och programmerare.

The primary purpose of this dissertation was to develop a conceptual model for information systems design based on a qualitative analysis of the fighter pilot's environment. The model was derived from the fighter pilot's conceptions and perceptions of his informational environment. The resultant model and the corresponding environmental specification can serve as the conceptual cornerstones for further development by providing the designers a common conceptual focal point for further information system design. The model used for overall information systems design was the Rolland & Cauvet development model. This model identifies two independent development domains: requirements engineering and design engineering. This dissertation represents the requirements engineering work. The approach selected in developing the requirements engineering aspect was Checkland's Soft Systems approach. Checkland's approach was suited to this project due to its model building orientation and its ability to handle the complexity and flexibility dictated by real-world human activity. The cognitive model, recommendations, hypotheses, and conclusions serve as an important step toward development of the fighter pilot's ground-based information system. There had been very little research, however, that addressed the cognitive structure and processes pilots use to develop memory frames necessary for airborne situational awareness. The goal of this project was to develop the first stage of a process leading to an inquiry system that will be used to augment the pilot's inquiry and conceptual structure building to capture the inherent complexity of this multidimensional environment, the researcher observed fighter pilots in their natural environment utilizing the multiple-site case study methodology supplemented by other qualitative data sources. The researcher utilized these data to develop the conceptual model. In addition, findings were derived, recommendations were generated and hypotheses were extracted using the Checkland model as a guide. The Glaser and Struass Constant Comparative Method was used for data analysis. The researcher identified the information environment as having two distinctly different components: structure and process. Seven versions of the model were presented in this iterative development effort. The dissertation is concluded with a series of recommendations, implications and conclusions that serve as the link between the conceptual model and the future work on the information system that will be completed by design engineers.

Designing information systems is a complex task. The purpose of this work is to contribute to an improved understanding of the design conditions in order to alleviate the problems that occur due to complexity in the design process. To possibly increase the understanding of the conditions for the design of interactive information systems, this dissertation concerns applying systems approach to the design situation. This is done in order to obtain understanding, but also to be able to identify the consequences and possible benefits of doing so. A literature survey and two extensive interviews have been performed. The material has been analysed, and tentative models of the design situation and its components are presented. These models can be considered general to the design situation and consequences are deduced from them. The result of this work is manifested in the tentative models, which describe the design situation, the designer, the user, the customer and the design. The concepts of complexity and communication have also been thoroughly dealt with.

Information technology (IT) plays an increasingly important role for individuals, organizations, markets, and society as a whole. IT systems are artefacts (human made objects) designed for various purposes. Given the multiple-purpose characteristics of computers, such artefacts may, for example, support workflows, perform advanced calculations, support human communication and socialization, enable delivery of services and digital products, facilitate learning, or simply entertain. The diverging application areas for IT present a challenge to designers who, as a consequence, have to address increasingly divergent design situations. There have been numerous arguments suggesting that the IT artefact has been 'taken for granted', and needs to be understood and conceptualized better within information systems (IS) research. This thesis is based on the pragmatist notion that one important value of IT resides in its potential to support human collaboration. Such a belief has implications for the development of (1) knowledge aimed for action, change and improvement; (2) knowledge about actions, activities and practices; and (3) knowledge through action, experimentation and exploration. A view of the IT artefact is outlined, showing it as part of a social and technological context. IT artefact design is explained in relation to the induction of social change. The notion of stakeholder-centric design is advocated, along with practical theory to promote a situated understanding of use qualities and design ideals. A set of meta-theoretical implications for design-oriented IS research is proposed. The research process consisted of five inquiries into different IT-reliant social contexts. In the first four inquiries, social and communicative qualities of IT artefacts were assessed, governed primarily by Dewey's notion of inquiry as a theory of knowledge. The fifth inquiry was a large-scale action research project, including interventions into the social setting, and the design and implementation of a new IT artefact into that setting.

Recent advances in geographic information systems (GIS) and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques have been summarised, concentrating on the theoretical aspects of their construction and use. Existing projects combining AI and GIS have also been discussed, with attention paid to the interfacing methods used and problems uncovered by the approaches. AI and GIS have been combined in this research to create an intelligent GIS for design. This has been applied to off-shore pipeline route design. The system was tested using data from a real pipeline design project.

Over the last the last three decades, there has been a significant and documented decrease of power engineering curriculum within U.S. electrical engineering programs. Development of lifelong learners capable of critical and independent thinking is required to replace the large number of upcoming retirees from the industry and to prepare for the engineering challenges new technologies, laws and regulations are bringing to the electrical power system. In response to these challenges, Portland State University redesigned its BSEE and MSECE power engineering programs in order to create a launching pad for successful power engineering careers. A course series on power system protection is part of the requisite curriculum for both programs. Due to the complex and applied nature of this subject, the course features a laboratory component. This thesis addresses the pedagogical and engineering problems associated with developing power systems protection laboratory curriculum. Laboratory equipment and curriculum design were guided by outcomes defined by ABET EC2000 and specific outcomes defined for the laboratory that we adopted from research commissioned by ABET. Hands-on experience with industry equipment and software enhances classroom-based course curriculum, expanding student understanding of the complexities of the subject of power system protection. Intergroup and intragroup communication is required in the laboratory, as are weekly written reports synthesizing subject material and experimental results. The outcomes of the laboratory are evaluated through a combination of grading rubrics and student participation in individual laboratory assignment surveys. The laboratory is comprised of three stations consisting of electromechanical (EM) relays and digital relay equipment. The practical experience with industry standard relays types happens in concert with a software-based simulation program. There are three phases of development; Phase I includes the design of the physical laboratory and the procural, or design and fabrication, of necessary equipment. Phase II involves the teaching term of the laboratory and the active assessment. Phase III involves the design and specification of a model-scale laboratory, to be built in future terms, which will provide students with the ability to test power system protection equipment in a physically simulated environment. This model-scale system will also provide a platform for future expansions of the power system protection laboratory in terms of distance protection, generation control, phasor measurement units, and system control schemes.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM)
Knowledge, skills and competences (KSC) are regarded as the new global currency of the 21st century, without which a country’s investments in other resources will collapse. These strategic skills and competences, which are related to specific requirements of the knowledge-driven economy and information society, are referred to as electronic skills (e-skills) and electronic competences (e-competences). Possessing e-skills and e-competencies allows for a more effective and inclusive participation within a global knowledge-driven economy and broader society. However, with a history of inequity, South Africa has been adversely impacted by globalisation and rapidly progressing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), resulting in the country lagging behind in global competitiveness and e-readiness. Since e-skills and e-competencies are considered a pre-requisite for securing professional employment in most of the world, there is a need for Higher Education Institutions to determine firstly, which e-competencies are required in today’s society and then to ensure that these e-competencies are sufficiently provided to their students. This statement is premised on the understanding that quality, relevant and adequate e-skills and e-competences are required for a more effective and inclusive participation within a global knowledge-driven economy and broader society. In the context of a regressing youth unemployment crisis in South Africa and with the backdrop of the global mismatch between demand and supply of e-skills and e-competences, this study investigated the alignment between demand and supply of e-competences in South Africa. Thus, the overarching aim of this study was to determine how well the Information Systems curriculum at a South African university (supply) matched the e-competence requirements of potential employers of Information Systems graduates in South Africa, specifically in the Western Cape Province (demand). This was achieved through two specific objectives which were firstly, to develop a conceptual framework that could be used to assess if there was a mismatch between demand and supply and then 2) to use the conceptual framework to make recommendations towards alignment of demand and supply. By achieving these objectives, this study makes a significant contribution to the current e-skills dialogue and existing body of knowledge by positing a conceptual framework ofe-Competences for Information Systems graduates in the South African context, which was developed after an extensive examination of the literature related to the demand and supply of e-competences; and eleven existing e-skills and e-competence frameworks. A holistic perspective of e-competences is illustrated in this e-Competence framework, which suggests a vertical and horizontal view of the knowledge, skill and attitude (KSA) components in the e-competence definition. By using three vertical layers, the framework categorises the combination of fifty specific e-competencies expected of undergraduate and postgraduate Information Systems graduates. The first layer indicates the core competence categories, which are Cognitive Competence, Functional Competence, ICT Competence, Personal Competence (which includes Career Management, Ethical and Emotional Intelligence Competences), Global Competence (which includes Behavioural, Intercultural and Social Intelligence Competences) and lastly Meta-competences, which underscore all the other competences. The second and third layers of the framework allocated fifty specific e-competencies to these core competence categories. The study was positioned within a qualitative, interpretive research paradigm and used a case study design. The research sites were twenty two IS graduate employers in the Western Cape Province who participate in the annual internship programme at the IS department of University X. Convenient sampling was used to collect data over a period of five years, from 2010 until 2014. The study used two data collection instruments, which were performance evaluation forms and follow up interviews. These two instruments provided rich data in both qualitative and quantitative forms and the variety of data allowed for the reliability and validity to be ensured with the qualitative data being triangulated with the quantitative data. Content analysis was used to analyse the data through a three-stage open coding process. Nine findings were identified, which indicate that there was a mismatch between the demand and supply of e-competences in the selected case study. The mismatches were found to be either in the knowledge, skill or attitude component of e-competence. It was noted that twenty one of the fifty e-competencies in the conceptual framework were taught at University X, eleven were assumed to be embedded within the IS curriculum and eighteen e-competencies are not taught at University X. Significantly, most employers regarded attitudes as a more important requirement for e-competence than knowledge and skills.

Today there are many IT-systems holding information about different things. The information can for example be anything from news feeds to complex environment systems. By making these system collaborate with each other new oppurtunities and functionality can be established. However, since most of the systems are developed individually, there are different ways to communicate with each system. Therefore, The IT-agency Gaia has started a collaboration with the real estate company Klövern AB. The intention was to develop a plat- form for functional- and informational distribution focusing on commercial real estates. The platform was supposed to be available for Klöverns tenants and be used in public environments providing access to intelligent environment systems, processes in facility management and interactive information channels. This report describes the user study, the idea development and the implementation of two Windows 8 Metro application prototypes communicating through this platform. The two prototypes was directed towards the Cnema and Gaia which are both tenants of Klövern. Furthermore, both the applications was written in C# and uses ASP.Net library Signalr for real-time communication.