Performance measurement of IT service management: a case study of an Australian university

IT departments are adopting service orientation by implementing IT service management (ITSM) frameworks. Most organisations are hesitant to discuss their ITSM performance measurement practices, tending to focus more on challenges. However there are good practices that are found amidst the challenges. We present a case study that provides an account of the performance measurement practices in the ICT Division of an Australian university. This case study was conducted with the aim of understanding the internal and external factors that influence the selection of ITSM performance metrics. It also explores how and why metrics and frameworks are used to measure the performance of ITSM in organisations. Interviews were conducted to identify the specific ITSM performance metrics used and how they were derived. It was found that a number of factors internal and external to the organisation influenced the selection of the performance metrics. The internal factors include meeting the need for improved governance, alignment of IT strategy with organisation strategy, having a mechanism to provide feedback to IT customers (university staff and students). External factors include benchmarking against others in the same industry and the choice of metrics offered by ITSM software tool adopted

Journey with Ting-Peng Liang in Pacific Asia Information Systems Field

Our respectful old friend Professor Ting-Peng Liang (in short, TP) whom we loved suddenly passed away on May 20, 2021. But we cannot forget his smile and passion, and his inerasable footprints in PACIS, PAJAIS, and AIS Community. He was the founder of PACIS, founding editor-in-chief of PAJAIS, and past president of AIS to list just a few. He was the pioneer who received the first AIS Fellow and the first LEO Award from Asia Pacific. That is why the leaders of the information systems field organized the first ever special tribute session in PACIS 2021 in memory of TP (https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2021/253/

A SWOT Analysis of the IS Academic Discipline in Australia

The study deals with changing perceptions of the Information Systems (IS) academic discipline in Australia across the ten year span from 2005 until 2014. The main source of data for this analysis is a series of annual surveys of Heads of Information Systems Departments across all Australian universities. The surveys incorporated questions regarding the perceived Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats pertaining at the time to the IS academic discipline in Australia. An analysis of the annual judgements, augmented by data from other sources, while revealing the inevitable changes of focus over time, brings to the fore a range of persistent and enduring issues demanding the attention of Australia’s IS academics. Collaborative Doctoral Consortia are proposed as effective mechanisms to exploit the strengths and opportunities and to redress weaknesses and threats identified

Measuring IS-Support: A Conceptual Model

This paper reports on a conceptual model of a larger research effort proceeding from a central interest in the importance of assessing the IS-Support provided to key-user groups. This study conceptualised a new multidimensional IS-Support construct with four dimensions: training, documentation, assistance and authorisation, which form the overarching construct – IS-Support. We argue that a holistic measure for assessing IS-Support should consist of dimensions, and measures, that together assess the variety of the support provided to IS key-user groups. The proposed IS-Support construct is defined as the support the IS key-user groups receive to increase their capabilities in utilising information systems within the organisation. With two interrelated phases, conceptualisation phase and validation phase, to rigorously hypothesise and validate a measurement model, the IS-Support model, proposed in this study, is intended to include the characteristics of analytic theory

A SWOT Analysis of the IS Academic Discipline in Australia

Abstract: The study provides a review of changing perceptions of the Information Systems (IS) academic discipline in Australia across the ten year span from 2005 until 2015. The main source of data for this analysis is a series of annual surveys of Heads of Information Systems Departments across all Australian universities. The surveys incorporated questions regarding the perceived Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats pertaining at the time to the IS academic discipline in Australia. A review of the annual judgements, augmented by data from other sources, while revealing the inevitable changes of focus over time, brings to the fore a range of persistent and enduring issues demanding the attention of Australia’s IS academics. Collaborative Doctoral Consortia are proposed as effective mechanisms to exploit the strengths and opportunities and to redress weaknesses and threats identified

Assessing Website Performance In The Line Of The Is Impact Model

This research proposal presents a novel study that aims to contribute to the understanding of factors that impact on the performance of Australian university business school websites. The proposed study addresses the current limitations of website performance measurement and incorporates a multilevel perspective that accounts for user and organisational perspectives on website performance. This study adopts the IS-Impact model, developed by G able et al. (2008) as its primary theoretical foundation and applies Shannon & Weaver’s (1949) Communication Theory to develop a conceptual model of website performance as a tool for understanding multilevel website usage as a measure of website performance. The study employs a two-phase quantitative survey research method incorporating an exploratory and confirmatory phase. The exploratory phase aims to test the completeness and the applicability of the IS-Impact model’s dimensions and measures in the university website context. The confirmatory phase aims to further validate the model and instrument derived from the exploratory phase, as well as to reconfirm the model and measures using quantitative data

A method for examining corporate social responsibility descriptions on SME websites

There is growing IS research concerning SME use of websites and limited but growing research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) by SMEs. However, to-date these two bodies of literature have remained largely separate. This paper links these fields by presenting an SME website content analysis method. Melville in his seminal MIS Quarterly article called for such methods which provide a nexus of IS, organisations and environment (which we extend to CSR). The method involves four steps: 1) identifying sources of SME websites; 2) determining if websites are describing CSR (based on the literature CSR by SMEs); 3) archiving website content for analysis; and 4) coding the website content using a structured framework (combining the literature on IS and CSR in an SME context). The paper also provides suggestions on how IS researchers can apply the method for quantitative and qualitative/exploratory objectives for future research.<br /

Exploring Shared Services from an IS Perspective: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

Shared services have gained significance as an organizational arrangement, in particular for support functions, to reduce costs, increase quality, and create new capabilities. The information systems (IS) function is amenable to sharing arrangements and information systems can enable sharing in other functional areas. However, despite being a promising area for IS research, literature on shared services in the IS discipline is scarce and scattered. There is still little consensus on what shared services is. Moreover, a thorough understanding of why shared services are adopted, who are involved, and how things are shared is lacking. In this article, we set out to progress IS research on shared services by establishing a common ground for future research and proposing a research agenda to shape the field based on an analysis of the IS literature. We present a holistic and inclusive definition, discuss the primacy of economic-strategic objectives so far, and introduce conceptual frameworks for stakeholders and the notion of sharing. We also provide an overview of the theories and research methods applied. We propose a research agenda that addresses fundamental issues related to objectives, stakeholders, and the notion of sharing to lay the foundation for taking IS research on shared services forward

Exploring barriers in expertise seeking : why don\u27t they ask an expert?

This paper reports findings from a research project that explores reasons why some employees prefer to seek expertise to resolve work-related problems from direct colleagues rather than designated internal experts. Several studies suggest that while an expert generally provides a higher quality solution in a shorter time, workers tend to ask friendly or proximate colleagues to help with knowledge-based problems at work. Prior research provides only fragmented insights into understanding the barriers to asking a designated internal expert for help at work. To address this gap, we asked post-graduate students enrolled in a knowledge management subject at a large Australian university to share their perspectives in an online discussion forum. Content analysis of the collected perspectives enabled identification of twenty-one factors that may limit the seeking of expertise from a designated internal expert. The factors are grouped in four categories: environment, accessibility, communication and personality. In addition one context variable is described, determining the extent to which the barriers are influential in a specific situation. By synthesising the results, we have proposed two models of expertise-seeking barriers. A literature review helps validate the barriers identified by the study. Key theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.<br /

Social commerce in Saudi Arabia: An investigation of the impact of government involvement and social and individual factors on consumers\u27 behaviour

Environmental enterprise systems (EES) are an emerging type of integrated enterprise-grade software developed for environmental sustainability. This paper reports an exploratory investigation into the use and value of EES based on case studies of an EES vendor, four organisations that have adopted EES and an organisation that has yet to adopt EES in Australia. Two levels of EES usage are found: basic and advanced (in a relative sense). The basic level spurs the development of EES best practice and systemic competence in terms of environmental data capture, integrated energy, waste, emission and water database and ability to generate different reports with ease and high level of quality, thereby leading to environmental operational value. The advanced level, however, goes beyond basic EES affordances, to create EES-enabled distinctive capabilities such as innovation in terms of energy optimisation of assets, risk management and analytics for achieving environmental strategic value. Based on the findings, this paper highlights a pathway for harvesting environmental value from EES without affecting the economic aspect of an organisation