A Constraint Guided Progressive Sequential Mining Waterfall Model for CRM

CRM has been realized as a core for the growth of any enterprise. This requires both the customer satisfaction and fulfillment of customer requirement, which can only be achieved by analyzing consumer behaviors. The data mining has become an effective tool since often the organizations have large databases of information on customers. However, the traditional data mining techniques have no relevant mechanism to provide guidance for business understanding, model selection and dynamic changes made in the databases. This article helps in understanding and maintaining the requirement of continuous data mining process for CRM in dynamic environment. A novel integrative model, Constraint Guided Progressive SequentialMiningWaterfall (CGPSMW) for knowledge discovery process is proposed. The key performance factors that include management of marketing, sales, knowledge, technology among others those are required for the successful implementation of CRM. We have studied how the sequential pattern mining performed on progressive databases instead of static databases in conjunction with these CRM performance indicators can result in highly efficient and effective useful patterns. This would further help in classification of customers which any enterprise should focus on to achieve its growth and benefit. An organization has limited number of resources that it can only use for valuable customers to reap the fruits of CRM. The different steps of the proposed CGP-SMW model give a detailed elaboration how to keep focus on these customers in dynamic scenarios

Editorial

This first issue of CIT. Journal of Computing and Information Technology conveys five papers from the regular section, which address topics in computer networks, relational databases, knowledge discovery in customer relationship management, and natural language processing.</p

Editorial

This first issue of CIT. Journal of Computing and Information Technology conveys five papers from the regular section, which address topics in computer networks, relational databases, knowledge discovery in customer relationship management, and natural language processing.</p

Author Index

Author Index: CIT Vol. 22 (2014), No 1–

Successful Management Strategies for Addressing Information Technology Project Scope Changes

Inadequate scope management strategies fail to prevent project failures. Information technology (IT) project leaders who lack strategies to prevent project failures negatively impact their business goals and delivery schedule. Grounded in the theory of constraints, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies IT project leaders use to manage project scope and prevent project failures. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and a review of company documents from 3 participants in a small IT consulting company. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three themes emerged: understanding project scope changes, performance techniques, and communication. A key recommendation is that IT project leaders should use project performance techniques and communicate with stakeholders when identifying strategies to prevent project failures. Implications for positive social change include creating more local IT job opportunities, improving employee compensation, and investing in local communities

Multi-perspective modelling for knowledge management and knowledge engineering

ii It seems almost self-evident that “knowledge management ” and “knowledge engineering” should be related disciplines that may share techniques and methods between them. However, attempts by knowledge engineers to apply their techniques to knowledge management have been praised by some and derided by others, who claim that knowledge engineers have a fundamentally wrong concept of what “knowledge management” is. The critics also point to specific weaknesses of knowledge engineering, notably the lack of a broad context for the knowledge. Knowledge engineering has suffered some criticism from within its own ranks, too, particularly of the “rapid prototyping ” approach, in which acquired knowledge was encoded directly into an iteratively developed computer system. This approach was indeed rapid, but when used to deliver a final system, it became nearly impossible to verify and validate the system or to maintain it. A solution to this has come in the form of knowledge engineering methodology, and particularly in the CommonKAD

When project meets innovation, creating new value while delivering sustainable results. “New conceptual (Pro-Innova) & practical (Prod-Ject) model” Project purpose (Pp.) = Innovation impact (Ii.)

At the macro and micro levels, governments, industries, and companies are constantly challenged by their stakeholders and customers to show relevance by adding a new value with innovative services, products, and solutions. The same stakeholders are simultaneously very demanding for the agile (Continuous and evolving) delivery of results with high impact. Both competing and often contradictory demands can be challenging to be met by organizations. Innovating new and unique value often requires a different set of skill and environment (Reflective, creative process with the need for a reasonable time to experiment) than those needed for delivering rapid projects (Time intensive and process-driven activity). This state of complexity is the main reason for the research study that is discussed in this doctorate thesis. Paradigm belief theory (Guba & Lincoln, 1994) and constructivism discipline were guiding this research work, assuming that there isn’t just one-way of the truth as it is relative and highly dependent to its context, opening the concept for interpretations. We used a blend of qualitative (Semi-structured Interviews, literature reviews) and quantitative (Multi-country and sector Survey) approaches in this research to increase the rigour of its findings, each methodology used works to complement and not compete with the other methods, in a way that it should help address some of the gaps and weaknesses, which can be found in each method if used independently. The consequence of using rigorous mixed qualitative and quantitative methods allowed for the findings of this research to be published (3 articles) in scientific double—blind reviewed international journals and conferences. A proposed conceptual framework to merge between some of the innovation and the project phases and activities, referred to here as “Pro-Innova” for short. We argue, validate and propose this new theoretical model that integrates the innovation and project management activities, using some aspects of the design thinking and the system dynamics loops with focus on the complementary and common aspects found in both areas to address the challenges, limitations and contradictions as well as the complexity each area (Innovation and Project) has on its own. the research reveals a new practical management system to breakdown the Pro-Innova conceptual model into more details (process, organization, roles and systems) to help the interaction between new product & project development. The management framework is therefore referred to as “Prod-Ject” for short. The proposed model (Pro-Innova) and while it has practical implications (Prod—Ject) and can be deployed within organizations in the public, private or social sectors, the model by analysis and design clearly follows the research perspectives that are more geared toward development in project management (Success, Business, Human, Contingency), which in one hand serves the research scope in the innovation project area. However, it doesn’t look at the other type of project perspectives that are merely focused on production (Optimization & Modelling). Pro-Innova conceptual model branches into Prod-Ject practical management system that offers project owners at the PMO unit a new way of conceptualizing and managing their projects when aiming at producing innovative products and solutions. It also provides inventors at the R&D or New Product Development units a new way of conceptualizing and managing their innovation cycle. Therefore, the model offers modern organizations an end-to-end conceptual model combined with a practical management system, which enables ideas to be actualized with high impact, in an effective and efficient manner. The integration of “Impact” in the Pro-Innova model and as part of the phases of the Prod-Ject management system is specifically aimed at forcing organizations to rethink the way they conduct their innovation projects, by moving from the short-term deliverable of outcomes into a longer term and sustainable socio-economic benefits. Therefore, redefining the success criteria for these exploratory organizational missions. Academically, there are limited attempts in studying the relationship between innovations and projects, which allowed for this research to unleash new theoretical and conceptual angles. Professionally, the two areas are often separated in a silo within organizations, putting modern leaders in a real paradox by either focusing their resources on one area (Creating innovative value) or the over (Delivering projects). The practical management system therefore attempts to bridge this gap and align internal organizational efforts for higher socioeconomic impact

Methodological approaches and techniques for designing ontologies in information systems requirements engineering

Programa doutoral em Information Systems and TechnologyThe way we interact with the world around us is changing as new challenges arise, embracing innovative business models, rethinking the organization and processes to maximize results, and evolving change management. Currently, and considering the projects executed, the methodologies used do not fully respond to the companies' needs. On the one hand, organizations are not familiar with the languages used in Information Systems, and on the other hand, they are often unable to validate requirements or business models. These are some of the difficulties encountered that lead us to think about formulating a new approach. Thus, the state of the art presented in this paper includes a study of the models involved in the software development process, where traditional methods and the rivalry of agile methods are present. In addition, a survey is made about Ontologies and what methods exist to conceive, transform, and represent them. Thus, after analyzing some of the various possibilities currently available, we began the process of evolving a method and developing an approach that would allow us to design ontologies. The method we evolved and adapted will allow us to derive terminologies from a specific domain, aggregating them in order to facilitate the construction of a catalog of terminologies. Next, the definition of an approach to designing ontologies will allow the construction of a domain-specific ontology. This approach allows in the first instance to integrate and store the data from different information systems of a given organization. In a second instance, the rules for mapping and building the ontology database are defined. Finally, a technological architecture is also proposed that will allow the mapping of an ontology through the construction of complex networks, allowing mapping and relating terminologies. This doctoral work encompasses numerous Research & Development (R&D) projects belonging to different domains such as Software Industry, Textile Industry, Robotic Industry and Smart Cities. Finally, a critical and descriptive analysis of the work done is performed, and we also point out perspectives for possible future work.A forma como interagimos com o mundo à nossa volta está a mudar à medida que novos desafios surgem, abraçando modelos empresariais inovadores, repensando a organização e os processos para maximizar os resultados, e evoluindo a gestão da mudança. Atualmente, e considerando os projetos executados, as metodologias utilizadas não respondem na totalidade às necessidades das empresas. Por um lado, as organizações não estão familiarizadas com as linguagens utilizadas nos Sistemas de Informação, por outro lado, são muitas vezes incapazes de validar requisitos ou modelos de negócio. Estas são algumas das dificuldades encontradas que nos levam a pensar na formulação de uma nova abordagem. Assim, o estado da arte apresentado neste documento inclui um estudo dos modelos envolvidos no processo de desenvolvimento de software, onde os métodos tradicionais e a rivalidade de métodos ágeis estão presentes. Além disso, é efetuado um levantamento sobre Ontologias e quais os métodos existentes para as conceber, transformar e representar. Assim, e após analisarmos algumas das várias possibilidades atualmente disponíveis, iniciou-se o processo de evolução de um método e desenvolvimento de uma abordagem que nos permitisse conceber ontologias. O método que evoluímos e adaptamos permitirá derivar terminologias de um domínio específico, agregando-as de forma a facilitar a construção de um catálogo de terminologias. Em seguida, a definição de uma abordagem para conceber ontologias permitirá a construção de uma ontologia de um domínio específico. Esta abordagem permite em primeira instância, integrar e armazenar os dados de diferentes sistemas de informação de uma determinada organização. Num segundo momento, são definidas as regras para o mapeamento e construção da base de dados ontológica. Finalmente, é também proposta uma arquitetura tecnológica que permitirá efetuar o mapeamento de uma ontologia através da construção de redes complexas, permitindo mapear e relacionar terminologias. Este trabalho de doutoramento engloba inúmeros projetos de Investigação & Desenvolvimento (I&D) pertencentes a diferentes domínios como por exemplo Indústria de Software, Indústria Têxtil, Indústria Robótica e Smart Cities. Finalmente, é realizada uma análise critica e descritiva do trabalho realizado, sendo que apontamos ainda perspetivas de possíveis trabalhos futuros

A framework for knowledge discovery within business intelligence for decision support

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Business Intelligence (BI) techniques provide the potential to not only efficiently manage but further analyse and apply the collected information in an effective manner. Benefiting from research both within industry and academia, BI provides functionality for accessing, cleansing, transforming, analysing and reporting organisational datasets. This provides further opportunities for the data to be explored and assist organisations in the discovery of correlations, trends and patterns that exist hidden within the data. This hidden information can be employed to provide an insight into opportunities to make an organisation more competitive by allowing manager to make more informed decisions and as a result, corporate resources optimally utilised. This potential insight provides organisations with an unrivalled opportunity to remain abreast of market trends. Consequently, BI techniques provide significant opportunity for integration with Decision Support Systems (DSS). The gap which was identified within the current body of knowledge and motivated this research, revealed that currently no suitable framework for BI, which can be applied at a meta-level and is therefore tool, technology and domain independent, currently exists. To address the identified gap this study proposes a meta-level framework: - ‘KDDS-BI’, which can be applied at an abstract level and therefore structure a BI investigation, irrespective of the end user. KDDS-BI not only facilitates the selection of suitable techniques for BI investigations, reducing the reliance upon ad-hoc investigative approaches which rely upon ‘trial and error’, yet further integrates Knowledge Management (KM) principles to ensure the retention and transfer of knowledge due to a structured approach to provide DSS that are based upon the principles of BI. In order to evaluate and validate the framework, KDDS-BI has been investigated through three distinct case studies. First KDDS-BI facilitates the integration of BI within ‘Direct Marketing’ to provide innovative solutions for analysis based upon the most suitable BI technique. Secondly, KDDS-BI is investigated within sales promotion, to facilitate the selection of tools and techniques for more focused in store marketing campaigns and increase revenue through the discovery of hidden data, and finally, operations management is analysed within a highly dynamic and unstructured environment of the London Underground Ltd. network through unique a BI solution to organise and manage resources, thereby increasing the efficiency of business processes. The three case studies provide insight into not only how KDDS-BI provides structure to the integration of BI within business process, but additionally the opportunity to analyse the performance of KDDS-BI within three independent environments for distinct purposes provided structure through KDDS-BI thereby validating and corroborating the proposed framework and adding value to business processes

An Agile systems development approach for enhancing e-Government user adoption

The expansion of technological developments in all areas of society has seen governments taking advantage of new technologies to enhance public service delivery, disseminate information and promote participation by the public in government decision-making. This phenomenon is known as electronic government, or e-Government. However despite the socio-economic benefits inherent in the implementation of e-Government systems, an overwhelming number of government projects – particularly in developing countries – struggle to successfully implement e-Government systems. e-Government project failure is more pronounced in developing countries, with more than half of these projects either partially or completely failing. The failure of e-Government projects undermines government investments, as well as the potential socio-economic benefits that could be realised by the citizens. Arguably, while the failure or success of an e-Government project is attributed to a myriad of factors, low user adoption is one of the key factors that contribute to e-Government project failure. Therefore this thesis seeks to investigate the phenomenon of low e-Government user adoption and determine whether the use of an Agile system development approach can positively influence e-Government user satisfaction as well as buy-in and adoption. A Mixed-Methods, multi-case study approach was used through the perspective of Post-Positivism. The researcher examined four (4) South African e-Government projects – using an online questionnaire and in-depth interviews with members of the system development team – to determine whether the use of an Agile approach has merit in enhancing e-Government user adoption. The use of a Mixed-Methods approach allowed for data triangulation so as to verify the findings; while the use of multiple case studies enabled for cross-case analysis. The findings indicate that the use of Agile practices, as listed in the proposed Agile-informed User Engagement Guidelines, can ensure that the e-Government system developed meets user needs; and, that users are satisfied with, and make use of the e-Government system. However since most large e-Government projects make use of a traditional Waterfall development approach, it is recommended that the Agile practices (proposed guidelines) be incorporated into the structured Waterfall approach – to create a hybrid, or blended system development approach. In conclusion, the use of the proposed Agile-informed User Engagement Guidelines can enhance e-Government user adoption; and, subsequently, contribute towards nurturing the success of e-Government projects