Risks of user-development application in small business

This paper discusses the risks of developing computerised business applications by end-users particularly in the small business environment. As today’s end-users are becoming more and more sophisticated, coupled with the proliferation of Information Technology (IT) that has brought the computerisation of business activities within reach of many small firms, understanding the benefits and risks of user-developed applications would contribute towards the small firm’s effectiveness in IT adoption. This is particularly relevant in today’s managing business where businesses, including the small firms, in a volatile environment will have to compete not only locally but also globally,and IT is seen to be an enabler that can help small firms to increase their competitiveness. Relevant literature on the benefits and risks of user-developed applications were sought and summarised in this paper. Findings were also based on a case study investigation of small firms with no formal IT function where observations were made on the end-user developers who were given the responsibility to develop the firm’s computerised applications. Whilst the benefits have been enormously highlighted and at times overshadowed the risks, due attention is given to examining the risks so as to provide a more balanced report and a precautionary measure for end-user developers. Risks were categorised according to organisational and individual risks following the application development stages of planning, analysis, design and implementation

Improving outcomes in outsourced product development: a joint consultant-client perspective

Although firms increasingly outsource front end product development activities to production suppliers or design consultants, this practice has received little scholarly attention. The few existing academic studies report high failure rates but generally present only the client firms’ view of the causes. Our first results from in-depth interviews of both clients and consultants give a richer picture of enablers of success and causes of failure. We confirm some previous findings(internal divisions within the client, “poor communication” between parties),identify new ones (inadequate client capabilities, failure to transfer design intent), and combine them into a comprehensive model of outsourced product development that includes negotiating project scope, continuously managing expectations, and carefully re-integrating the design output into the client’s operations. Finally, we classify several types of client dependency (need for new ideas, extra capacity, or specific technical expertise) and highlight the particular hazards associated with each

Can anybody help? : mitigating IS development project risk with user

In this paper we aim to gain insight into the relationship between user participation modes and project risk factors, and then we construct a model that can be used to determine how user participation can be successfully applied in ISD projects with a given set of risk factors. We perform an in-depth literature review, which aims to clarify the concept of user participation as part of risk management. We then report on the results of a case study in Cap Gemini where we conduct an exploratory research of the application of user participation in practice. For this exploratory research, a quantitative and qualitative research method was designed in the form of a survey and interviews. Though the results from our case study we gain insight into the relationship between user participation and IS project risk and also determine how user participation can be used to mitigate such risk

Users' trust in information resources in the Web environment: a status report

This study has three aims; to provide an overview of the ways in which trust is either assessed or asserted in relation to the use and provision of resources in the Web environment for research and learning; to assess what solutions might be worth further investigation and whether establishing ways to assert trust in academic information resources could assist the development of information literacy; to help increase understanding of how perceptions of trust influence the behaviour of information users

Recommendation domains for pond aquaculture

This publication introduces the methods and results of a research project that has developed a set of decision-support tools to identify places and sets of conditions for which a particular target aquaculture technology is considered feasible and therefore good to promote. The tools also identify the nature of constraints to aquaculture development and thereby shed light on appropriate interventions to realize the potential of the target areas. The project results will be useful for policy planners and decision makers in national, regional and local governments and development funding agencies, aquaculture extension workers in regional and local governments, and researchers in aquaculture systems and rural livelihoods. (Document contains 40 pages

Political economy and political risks of institutional reform in the water sector

It is difficult and time-consuming to get adequate information about influence groups in a society. Dinar, Balakrishnan, and Wambia develop an approach to estimating the political risk associated with implementing a set of institutional reforms in the water sector. Their approach endogenizes the actions taken by politicians, users, service providers, and other stakeholders. Their analysis provides insights into the relationships between institutional arrangements, the power structure, and policy outcomes. T,he authors develop a two-tier tool to assess the risks associated with implementing reform. The first tier is a structured analysis of the distribution of power among groups interested in the outcome of reform. The second tier is a Delphi process, based on experts'opinions. Their approach is a compromise between the two options: the first (structured analysis) is costly and time-consuming and often entails creating and using pseudo precise indices; the second (Delphi) process is an unstructured"expert opinion"way of assessing risk Their compromise approach provides a manageable framework that, after some testing, could be added to the feasibility analysis of projects undertaken in politically complicated environments. They apply the approachto the National Drainage Program Project, currently in the early stages of implementation in Pakistan. They describe risk mitigation strategies that should be followed in dealing with political risks associated with the project.Environmental Economics&Policies,Enterprise Development&Reform,Water Supply and Systems,Water Conservation,Water Resources Law,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Water Conservation,Health Economics&Finance,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Environmental Economics&Policies

An Inpatient Rehabilitation Interprofessional Care Pathway for Traumatic Hip Fracture: A Pilot Quality Improvement Project

Background: Each year over 300,000 older adults are hospitalized for hip fracture. The impact of the cost of hip fracture on the US health care system is estimated to be as high as $9 billion, with the typical cost of a hip fracture episode around$30,000. Formalized pathways have been developed and successfully utilized for many patient presentations, including hip fracture, in the acute setting. Although this research is important to the comprehensive care of the elderly hip fracture patient, very little research exists that outlines evidence-based best-practice for patients in the post-acute recovery period. Purpose: The primary aim of this project was to develop an evidence-based, comprehensive, coordinated, and interprofessional care pathway for hip fracture patients in the acute rehabilitation setting to improve the percentage of patients discharging to community settings by 20% from current baseline by the end of the pilot period. Methods: The design of this project was an observational cohort study. Descriptive statistics will be used to compare intervention groups to controls, including frequencies and distributions. Results: The hip fracture tool itself had inconclusive results, the impacts of the effects on team work and enhanced coordination of the care team was realized through reducing institutionalized days for hip fracture patients in acute rehabilitation

Alter ego, state of the art on user profiling: an overview of the most relevant organisational and behavioural aspects regarding User Profiling.

This report gives an overview of the most relevant organisational and\ud behavioural aspects regarding user profiling. It discusses not only the\ud most important aims of user profiling from both an organisation’s as\ud well as a user’s perspective, it will also discuss organisational motives\ud and barriers for user profiling and the most important conditions for\ud the success of user profiling. Finally recommendations are made and\ud suggestions for further research are given