Advancing the state of the art in the modelling and simulation of information systems evaluation

It is widely accepted that Information Systems Evaluation (ISE) is a powerful and useful technique that can be used to assess IT/IS investments in an a-priori or a-posteriori sense. Traditional approaches to ISE have tended to centre upon financial and management accounting frameworks, seeking to reconcile tangible and intangible costs, benefits, risks and value factors. Such techniques, however, do not provide the IS researcher or practitioner with further insight or appreciation of any inherent and implicit inter-relationships, in the investment justification process. Thus, this paper outlines and discusses via a taxonomy and resulting classification, alternative and complementary approaches that can be applied to ISE from the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Operational Research (OR) and Management Science (MS). The paper subsequently concludes that such approaches can be potentially used by researchers and practitioners in the field, as a basis for carrying out further research in the field of applied ISE

Beyond Knowledge Management -- Introducing a Framework for Learning Management Systems

In the knowledge economy, a firm’s intellectual capital represents the only sustainable source of competitive advantage. Intellectual capital manifests itself, predominantly, in the individual and collective competencies of employees in organizations. Hence, the ability to learn and to manage learning becomes critical to the success of organizations. Firm’s adopting knowledge management initiatives seek to facilitate the sharing and integration of knowledge. This approach has had limited success, primarily because of its focus on ‘knowledge as a resource’ rather than on ‘learning as a people process’. A strategic ‘people-oriented’ approach to the management of learning is now emerging in many organizations and a new breed of information system (IS), the ‘Learning Management System’ (LMS), is being used to manage organizational learning. As with previous IS innovations, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, industry practitioners and IT vendors, are addressing the ‘Learning Management’ challenge; consequently, there is a paucity of empirical research on LMS in the IS field. It is well-accepted that with little researched or understood phenomena, a research framework is required to identify fundamental constructs and variables so that such phenomena can be rigorously studied. Based on an exhaustive analysis of previous research and an extensive case study of an LMS implementation, this paper proposes a conceptual model and framework that delineates a role for LMS with respect to theories that deal with knowledge and learning management and IS which are argued to support learning and knowledge management in organizations. In so doing, this study highlights the roles that LMS can play in the support and management of learning within knowledge-intensive business enterprises

Causal framework through retroduction and retrodiction

While the discussion in the IS research community has moved from describing critical realism as simply a compromise philosophy between positivists and interpretivists to its acceptance in its own right, it is still lacking in a choice of methods or processes for the IS researcher to utilise. This paper presents a proposed method that can be used by IS researchers following the critical realist paradigm. The suitability of a critical realist approach to IS research is discussed, and the importance of the combined ontological and epistemological elements described. The relevance of the search for causal mechanisms is shown and the benefits of the processes of retroduction and retrodiction in this search. A ‘causal framework’ is proposed as an artefact in the IS critical researcher’s “toolkit” and an example provided to show how it can be used. A three step process is described which uses causal frameworks the guide the analysis

Conflicting expectations in transforming government service processes: the story of e-payment for social welfare in Ireland

Despite its clear potential and attractiveness as a solution to a broad range of societal problems, E-Government has not been adopted to levels predicted in early 2000 literature. Whilst case studies of punctual development of E-Government initiatives abound, few countries have progressed to high levels of maturity in the systematic use of ICT in the relationship between government and citizens. At the same time, the current period brings challenges in terms of access to public services and costs of delivering these services which make the large scale use of ICT by governments more attractive than ever, if not even a necessity. This paper presents a detailed case study of a specific E-Government initiative in Ireland in the area of E-payments for G2C, in the social welfare area. Locating the current initiative in its historical context, it analyses the varied motivations and conflicting requirements of the numerous stakeholders and discusses the constraints that bear on the potential scenarios that could be followed at this point in time

A tool for analysing the information behaviour of expectant and new mothers

In recent years, there has been an increase in the variety and availability of information resources in nearly every area of life. Unfortunately, variety and availability don’t always signal quality. With health information, it’s important not only to have quality information resources but also to ensure resources meet the needs of their audience. Expectant and new mothers have become active consumers of health information. They access and combine information from offline and online resources when making healthcare decisions. This paper presents a tool that analyses the information behaviour of expectant and new mothers. The Information Behaviour Analysis Tool (IBAT) is based on a theoretical model of information behaviour that is adapted from extant literature. We use interview and activity diary data from the first stage of a longitudinal exploratory study to create and demonstrate the tool. The IBAT can be used to map the information behaviour of new and expectant mothers from beginning to end. Three different search episodes are used to demonstrate the efficacy of the tool and to highlight different types of search strategies. These examples demonstrate the variability of uncertainty as a factor during information behaviour and the interaction it can have when processing different information resources

Supply chain resilience in mindful humanitarian aid organizations: the role of big data analytics

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the nomological network of associations between collective mindfulness and big data analytics in fostering resilient humanitarian relief supply chains.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conceptualize a research model grounded in literature and test the hypotheses using survey data collected from informants at humanitarian aid organizations in Africa and Europe.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that organizational mindfulness is key to enabling resilient humanitarian relief supply chains, as opposed to just big data analytics.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine organizational mindfulness and big data analytics in the context of humanitarian relief supply chains

ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks: a literature review

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation is a complex and vibrant process, one that involves a combination of technological and organizational interactions. Often an ERP implementation project is the single largest IT project that an organization has ever launched and requires a mutual fit of system and organization. Also the concept of an ERP implementation supporting business processes across many different departments is not a generic, rigid and uniform concept and depends on variety of factors. As a result, the issues addressing the ERP implementation process have been one of the major concerns in industry. Therefore ERP implementation receives attention from practitioners and scholars and both, business as well as academic literature is abundant and not always very conclusive or coherent. However, research on ERP systems so far has been mainly focused on diffusion, use and impact issues. Less attention has been given to the methods used during the configuration and the implementation of ERP systems, even though they are commonly used in practice, they still remain largely unexplored and undocumented in Information Systems research. So, the academic relevance of this research is the contribution to the existing body of scientific knowledge. An annotated brief literature review is done in order to evaluate the current state of the existing academic literature. The purpose is to present a systematic overview of relevant ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks as a desire for achieving a better taxonomy of ERP implementation methodologies. This paper is useful to researchers who are interested in ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Results will serve as an input for a classification of the existing ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Also, this paper aims also at the professional ERP community involved in the process of ERP implementation by promoting a better understanding of ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks, its variety and history