Assessing the correlation between ERP system implementation and business process maturity

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) projects continue to attract attention, as researchers seek to develop insights and understanding of the conditions required for successful project delivery. Having spent an entire career to-date in different ICT roles, the authors have experienced several ERP implementations. There is considerable literature on what constitutes precedent conditions for successful ERP project delivery, commonly referred to as critical success factors (CSFs) for ERP projects. Most of these factors are presented from a project-centric context, that is, they are activated at the advent of an ERP project and recede with project closure. One distinctive factor which attracts attention by its seeming absence from literature on CSFs is the level of maturity of business processes in the implementing organisation. This study takes a closer look at business process maturity as relevant and important for ERP implementation success, and compares this with other CSFs. In this paper, an integration of business process maturity models, ERP implementation stages and systems characteristics through maturity stages is presented to formulate a conceptual framework to assess the correlation of ERP project implementation against organizational business process maturity

The impact of contextual factors on the implementation of the e-education policy in previously disadvantaged areas in Cape Town: the teachers perspective

Despite the fact that it has been established that contextual factors affect implementation and implementation outcomes of ICT projects, there is a dearth of information on the impact of contextual factors on the implementation of the white paper in e-education in schools in previously disadvantaged areas in South Africa. To fill this gap, this study investigated how contextual factors affected the implementation and implementation outcomes of the white paper in e-education in schools in previously disadvantaged areas. In addition, the study sought to evaluate if these interventions added value to the teachers work. This study adopted a critical interpretivist approach and used the contextual interaction theory to guide the investigation. The research data was obtained through semi structured interviews with teachers and school management staff of public schools in previously disadvantaged areas in Cape Town, a panel discussion and review of the pertinent policy documents on Information Communication and Technology implementation in South African government schools. The findings of the study show that the implementation context, the history of the implementers, interactions between the policy actors and other issues that are in no way related to the implementation process affected the implementation process and outcomes. Furthermore, the implementation process was wrought with high degrees of ambiguity which is typical in public sector ICT policy implementation. The study also shows that there is need to have measures to evaluate ICT policy implementation which take into consideration the context in which the project exists and the perception of the intended recipients about the success or failure of the implementation. It is hoped that the results will assist those who carry out ICT implementation projects in disadvantaged areas in South Africa and similar context elsewhere insights into the implementation dynamics which can affect implementation outcomes. This thesis contributes to the knowledge base for effective implementation of e-policies, particularly in contexts such as previously disadvantaged areas by pointing out contextual issues and factors that mitigate against implementation efforts. The thesis also reveals practical implications for policy makers by highlighting the need for policies to be based on valid assumptions and be suitable to implementation contexts reflecting the needs, understandings and social realities of primary beneficiaries

An investigation of ICT project management techniques for sustainable ICT projects in rural development

Poverty alleviation by means of rural development has become a priority among developing countries. In turn, rural development may be significantly enhanced and supported by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), the use of which is highlighted by the emerging importance of information and knowledge as key strategic resources for social and economic development. An analysis of rural case studies where ICTs have been introduced, suggests that there are a number of barriers and constraints that are faced when taking advantage of these technologies. These include access to infrastructure, limited formal education, insufficient training and capacity building, financial and political constraints, and social and cultural challenges. These challenges threaten the success and sustainability of rural ICT projects. Sustainability is key to the effectiveness of a rural ICT project; therefore it is important to understand the concept and categories associated with ICT project sustainability in rural areas. The categories of sustainability which include social and cultural, institutional, economic, political, and technological, reveal critical success factors that need to be considered in the implementation and management of rural ICT projects. The project management discipline acknowledges the importance of understanding the project’s environment, particularly environmental factors associated with rural communities. The complexity of the environment therefore implies the need for a project to be undertaken in phases comprising the project life cycle. Project management practice for rural ICT project sustainability can therefore be examined, adapting the traditional project life cycle to a rural ICT project. A Rural ICT Project Life Cycle (RICT-PLC) that is sensitive to the critical success factors of sustainability is therefore proposed. In order to further investigate the phases of the life cycle of a rural ICT project, two case study investigations are explored: the Dwesa ICT community project, and the Rhodes University Mathematics Education Project (RUMEP) (MathsNet). A multiple case study analysis confirms the practices associated with the RICT-PLC model, and identifies additional characteristics, phases and practices associated with rural ICT projects. Finally, an enhanced RICT-PLC model is developed, that sets sustainability guidelines for ICT project management in rural areas and identifies the people, environments, technologies, systems, and requirements for ICTs to support rural development activities

A process assessment framework for rural ICT projects in developing countries: an exploration of the Siyakhula Living Lab, South Africa

Rural development can be supported by information and knowledge which are key strategic resources for socio economic development. ICTs enable the facilitation and communication of information between remotely dispersed individuals or groups and more developed regions. While it has become common place that ICTs possess capabilities to potentially support rural development, the concept of ICT for development (ICT4D) is still fraught with challenges and barriers, which impede the success and sustainability of ICT4D projects. It is therefore essential to evaluate rural ICT projects, as such an analysis may aid in revealing information related to the need, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of these projects. This research seeks to further the implementation and exploration of the Rural ICT Comprehensive Evaluation Framework (RICT-CEF), through the application of the Process Assessment domain in a real life rural ICT project environment. The RICT-CEF framework consisting of 7 evaluation domains has the primary objective of evaluating rural ICT projects from their inception stages to post implementation. A process assessment seeks to determine whether or not a rural ICT project is operating to implement its intended functions in the intended way specified in the projects plan. Such an assessment is invaluable to a comprehensive evaluation. Evaluation questions for a process assessment are centred around critical themes of project performance. Critical themes are aspects of a programme or projects implementation which must be enacted in order to achieve desired project outcomes. This research study is aimed at identifying critical themes of process assessment relevant to rural ICT4D projects. To identify critical themes, assessment approaches on social programme process assessments, evaluation of information systems in use, and rural ICT4D project evaluation case studies are comparatively analysed. Fourteen assessment approaches from these three categories are selected based on criteria. To analyse selected assessment approaches, a template is created based on the research questions, foundational literature on process assessment and identified challenges applicable to process assessments of rural ICT4D projects. Comparing and contrasting critical themes from these assessment approaches highlight critical themes essential to assess in the iterative implementation phase of rural ICT projects. Accentuated critical themes include, service utilization, organizational function and external project factors. These themes, along with suggested guiding principles from literature for conducting process assessments enable the creation of a framework for conducting process assessments of rural ICT projects. The framework is labelled "the Rural ICT Project Process Assessment Framework (RICTP-PAF)". The application of the RICTP-PAF in a real life rural ICT project through a design science case study provides lessons learned (suitability and shortcomings) from applying the framework. This essentially demonstrates the sensitivity of the RICTP-PAF to rural contexts in which it is implemented in. For instance, the implemented prototype of the RICTP-PAF reveals that the framework places a great deal of emphasis on rural beneficiary perspectives. A practice which has been lacking in such evaluation exercises. Furthermore, the guiding principles elucidated, bring to mind best practices to deal with issues such as stakeholder conflict, unreliable data elicitation and unethical assessment practices. The RICTP-PAF represents a fundamental tool for process assessments of rural ICT projects, and may be adopted and customized to various rural ICT project contexts in developing countries

E-government: a new vision for success.

One of the most important emerging applications of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is e-government. Perceived as providing benefits to the community by overcoming the complexity of bureaucracy, increasing the efficiency of the economy, reducing services' time, and permitting businesses and citizens to connect to government information, it is likely to become a part of life for citizens and businesses. However, the initial push to implement e-government projects resulted in a number of projects that failed, either partially or completely (Heeks, 2003a). A major reason offered for these failures is that governments were applying the conventional ICT project formula to e-government, without consideration of other features that are particular to e-government. E-government has its unique combination of features and characteristics that should be taken into consideration at design and implementation stages to determine its success. The primary aim of this paper is to identify the main characteristics of e-government in order to assess the range of aspects that are likely to affect the success or failure of an e-government project. We begin by setting out the concept of e-government, and its importance in an esociety. Noting the failure rate of e-government projects, we follow with a discussion of Critical Success Factors (CSF’s) – i.e. aspects that must be taken into account to ensure the success of a project. We identify the range of aspects of e-government, and align these to CSF’s. Finally, we argue that current CSF’s in e-government do not take into account the full range of characteristics that apply to this sector, and that new e-government CSF’s are needed in order to improve the success rate of e-government projects

Model for e-government initiative in public sector in Jordan

E-government has become a global interest since it extended the public services through information communication technology (ICT) to allow access to information, improve transparency and efficiency. Many governments are interested to implement successful e-government initiatives. However, e-government implementation is not a simple task since the developing countries cannot directly adopt the implementation of e-government model which is mainly built in the context of developed countries. Previous studies have shown that many egovernment projects in developing countries, like Jordan have encountered various problems after implementation phase. Hence, the objective of this study is to develop an e-government initiative model for the public sector in Jordan. In this study, unstructured interviews were conducted as a method for collecting the data. Thirty respondents involved in e-government projects such as managers, general managers and other levels of decision makers were selected from three Jordanian ministries namely the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labour. The initial success factors for e-government initiatives in Jordan were identified and analyzed qualitatively. Delphi technique was also used to determine and validate the critical success factors (CSFs). Ultimately, a novel Ali, Syazwan & Ruzaini’s e-government initiatives model for has been developed in this research. The model has four stages: (1) Emerging and Information Dissemination; (2) Two-Way Communication; (3) Integration and (4) E-democracy. The findings also revealed seven CSFs that should be taken into account to implement the e-government model which include top management support, vision and strategy, funding, information technology (IT) infrastructure, user computer efficacy, awareness and resistance to change. This study contributes to the body of knowledge in Socio Technical Theory (STT) toward the development of egovernment initiatives model for public sector in Jordan. The empirical data from the study may provide input for government agencies to plan, design and implement future ICT projects in Jordan

Change Management as a Critical Success Factor in e-Government Implementation

Change management in e-government implementation is a very complex issue. E-government services are frequently distributed over different IT systems and organizations. There are also events from outside the public administration that cause changes such as government policies and legislation, public-private partnership, etc., and finally a huge resistance to change exists in public administration proverbial. Another problem is that the e-government is predominantly seen only as a technology mission and not as an organizational transformation issue. Those are probably the main reasons that the existing literature about change management in e-government is still missing at large. There are articles dealing with some aspects of changes affected by the new technology implementation, however, there is no comprehensive framework that would identify changes that have to be managed in e-government implementation. Therefore, the main aim of the paper is to identify a comprehensive set of changes that have to be considered in e-government implementation and the role of leadership in such processes. Finally, the paper proposes a conceptual model of change management in e-government implementation.change management; e-government; new leadership style; change management model of e-government implementation

Public Service Delivery: Role of Information and Communication Technology in Improving Governance and Development Impact

The focus of this paper is on improving governance through the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the delivery of services to the poor, i.e., improving efficiency, accountability, and transparency, and reducing bribery. A number of papers recognize the potential benefits but they also point out that it has not been easy to harness this potential. This paper presents an analysis of effective case studies from developing countries where the benefits have reached a large number of poor citizens. It also identifies the critical success factors for wide-scale deployment. The paper includes cases on the use of ICTs in the management of delivery of public services in health, education, and provision of subsidized food. Cases on electronic delivery of government services, such as providing certificates and licenses to rural populations, which in turn provide entitlements to the poor for subsidized food, fertilizer, and health services are also included. ICT-enabled provision of information to enhance rural income is also covered

Assessing the Impact of E-Procurement Implementation in Ghana Health Services, Ashanti Region of Ghana

Purpose: E-Procurement is more than just a system for making purchases online. Some companies implement e-procurement and succeed while others fail. This study was carried out to assess the impact and the strategic challenges of e-procurement implementation in some selected health facilities in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The main objective of the study is to assess the impact of electronic procurement implementation and its challenges in some selected health facilities in the Ashanti region of Ghana.Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive approach in trying to establish the factors that influence the success of e-procurement implementation projects. The population sample for the study was four public hospitals, PPA, and medical suppliers in the Ashanti region with the used of census survey and the data collection methods used in the study were secondary and primary data. The data was collected from the respondents through questionnaires.Findings: It was revealed that Ghana health service institutions have not yet adopted the e-procurement management system. The critical success factors for e-procurement implementation identified were: organisational and environmental issues, technical issues, and management commitment to successful e-procurement adoption. It was also revealed that for the e-procurement implementation to be successful there is the need for education and training of stakeholders, resources investment to the provision of IT and ICT network infrastructure and reliable power supply, establishment of legal and regulatory framework to serve as legal backing and employing the requisite technical personnel to man the e-procurement system effectively. Again the study found that set-up cost, top management posture, lack of skilled personnel, the inadequacy of IT and ICT infrastructure, and lack of e-procurement legal backing tools are the major challenges impeding e-procurement adoption in the health sector.A unique contribution to theory, practice, and policy: The study recommends that Ghana health service institutions need to incorporate all the e-procurement activities into the system by finding out ways of encouraging employees to make use of the e-procurement system. Keywords: e-procurement, e-reverse auctioning, value for money, cost reduction, and saving DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-23-10 Publication date:August 31st 202