Understanding and supporting pricing decisions using multicriteria decision analysis: an application to antique silver in South Africa

This dissertation presents an application of multicriteria decision analysis to understand and support pricing decisions in fields where goods are unique and described by their characteristics. The specific application area of this research is antique silver objects, where a complete iteration of the multicritia decision process is performed. This includes two problem structurings using SODA which provide rich detail into this application area. Multi-attribute additive models are constructed, with attribute partial value functions elicited using different methods: directly (bisection methods), indirectly (MACBETH and linear interpolation) and with discrete choice experiments. The applicability and advantages of each method is discussed. Additionally, an open source R package to implement the design of discrete choice experiments is created. The multi-attribute models provide key insights into decision maker's reasoning for price; and contrasting different decision maker's models explains the market. A risk adverse relationship between multicriteria model score and price is characterised and various inverse utility functions investigated. Two decision support systems are fully developed to address the needs of Cape silver decision makers in South Africa

Rationalizing Systems Analysis for the Evaluation of Adaptation Strategies in Complex Human‐Water Systems

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A new model for the development of information systems

The most commonly used systems specification and design techniques in commercial computing are described and compared; Information Engineering as proposed by James Martin, A Framework for Information Definition-Muitiview proposed by Wood-Harper et al, Real-world Modeling as described by Jackson, Structured Analysis and Design as In Demarco, Yourdon and Constantine and Output-Oriented Structured Requirement Definition proposed by Orr. In addition, system prototyping is discussed, including the role of prototyping in large software development projects and as a tool for the design of human-computer interfaces. Other areas described and discussed include decision support systems (DSS) and knowledge based management support systems. The context is in the design and development approaches for DSS, prototyping for DSS, expert system for DSS and the integration of DSS and information system. The design and development of human-computer interface is also discussed in relation to user Interface complexity and adaptive interfaces. Further, the important issue of user involvement and support within the development process Is discussed. Thus, weaknesses of current approaches to the system development process are identified and a new model for the development of information system is proposed. In proposing the model, data and functional analysis structured method and methodology for decision support systems (DSS) development is presented including guidelines for the development of knowledge based DSS. The new proposed model is put to test in the design, development and implementation of large integrated commercial systems including DSS. Results and discussion on the use of the model is reported with special consideration to the users' and developers' view of the model. Finally the objectives of this research program are examined in relation to what has been achieved during this program of research. The prospect of using the model for the development of information systems are concluded with references to current and future goals

A design theory for requirements mining systems

Software requirements are often communicated in unstructured text documents, which need to be analyzed in order to identify and classify individual needs. This process is referred to as requirements mining in the context of this thesis. It is known to be time-consuming and error-prone when performed manually by a requirements engineer. Thus, there is a demand to support requirements mining through information technology. However, little research has been conducted to conceptualize theoretically grounded requirements mining systems and abstract the necessary design knowledge in a theory. Furthermore, existing works scarcely investigate the effect of these artifacts on requirements engineers’ productivity. Consequently in this thesis, the following research question is addressed: How can a system be designed which aims at improving requirements mining productivity over manual discovery? Following a Design Science approach, a design theory is derived consisting of design requirements, design principles and design features. Design requirements are identified based on general knowledge and kernel theories. Subsequently they are related to design principles which are finally mapped to design features of an artifact. The artifact is conceptualized in two design cycles, each resulting in a distinct artifact version and its evaluation. In the first design cycle a simulation is conducted to investigate the interplay of the preliminary design principles. In the second design cycle, the effects of the final design principles on requirements mining productivity are measured in an experiment. The thesis contributes to the design theory body of knowledge by providing a design theory for requirements mining systems. The theory is a contribution to the information systems literature because requirements mining systems represent an important class of design situations that have not been adequately described yet by existing works. From a practical point of view, the study addresses the need of requirements engineers to support their work by information technology and provides vendors of requirements engineering software packages guidelines to improve their products

DEVELOPING AND EVALUATING A WEB-BASED EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SPATIAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM

This dissertation proposes and evaluates a consolidated design methodology for web-based emergency management decision support systems (WEM-DSSs). The development of the proposed methodology draws upon a literature review which crosslinks substantive topics related to evolving theoretical paradigms in disaster research and the role of information systems within organizations, and competing approaches to the development of GIS and participatory decision support systems. As a conclusion of the literature review, it was suggested that a good software development methodology should be balanced between agility and discipline. Due to the nature of this research, a mixture of Extreme Programming and Capability Maturity Integration approaches with an emphasis on agility is proposed. Then the design of the proposed methodology is refined and tested through a case study that seeks to develop a WEM-DSS for the emergency managers working in Oklahoma. The methodology's effectiveness is mainly evaluated by investigator's ability to follow proposed methodological tasks, ability to involve sufficient user input and ability to follow proposed timeline.The findings of this research enhance our understanding of delivering geographic information to users, and drawing user input from emergency management communities. From a systems development point of view, this study shows that XP and CMMI are in fact compatible with each other. From an empirical viewpoint, the study shows a complete process of following a methodology that is implemented for developing a WEMDSS. Finally, this research delivers a technical product that is built upon user input. This product employs ArcGIS Silverlight API, Microsoft Silverlight and service oriented architectures