On Measuring the Criticality of Various Variables and Processes in Organization Information Systems: Proposed Methodological Procedure

This paper proposes methodological procedures to be used by the accounting, organizational and managerial researchers and executives to ascertain the criticality of the variables and the processes in the measurement of management control system. We have restricted the validation of proposed methods to the extraction of critical success factors (CSF) in this study. We have also provided a numerical illustration and tested our methodological procedures using a dataset of an empirical study conducted for the purpose of ascertaining the CSFs. The proposed methods can be used by the researchers in accounting, organizational information systems, economics, and business and also in other relevant disciplines of organizational sciences. The main contribution of this paper is the extension of Rockart’s work [33] on critical success factors. We have extended the theory of CSF beyond the initially suggested domain of information into management control system decision making. The methodological procedures developed by us are expected to enrich the literature of analytical and empirical studies in accounting and organizational areas where it can prove helpful in understanding the criticality of individual variables, processes, methods or success factors.Success Factors, Criticality Analysis, Perceptual Criticality, Critical Success Factors

Critical Success Factors for the Implementation and Adoption of Cloud Services in SMEs

Cloud computing (CC) is a fast-growing technology and one of the most important technological drivers of the digitalization of enterprises. The implementation and adoption of a suitable cloud service is challenging and knowledge-intensive and requires strong participation and ownership of business managers and IT units. However, even if the awareness of critical success factors (CSFs) for cloud implementation projects strongly supports avoiding failures within the projects, this field has rarely been researched, especially with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, our paper’s contribution to research and practice is the identification of 26 CSFs through a rigorous literature review in combination with an interview study among German SMEs. As a result, we derive a comprehensive model as a starting point for cloud implementation projects in which we assign the CSFs to the respective parties involved in those projects

Security Risk Management Can Be Investigated! Presenting the Relation Between Research Rigor and an Effective Study

Information security is a naturally intrusive topic that has not been researched to its full extent in IS. Taking note of a previous information security study that failed and lessons learned from it, we successfully carry out a study of our own with some modifications. In this paper we detail the method used, which we hope will prove beneficial for academic researchers

Customer Satisfaction in IS Projects: Assessing the Role of Process and Product Performance

Despite extensive research over the past several decades, assessing information system (IS) project success is still a challenging endeavor. While the traditional approach takes process performance (time and budget) and product performance (functional and non-functional requirements) into account, the contemporary perspective acknowledges the more comprehensive character of project success and emphasizes the criticality of stakeholder satisfaction. Continuing previous research, we propose and test a model with customer satisfaction as the uppermost criterion of IS project success and process performance and product performance as its determinants. Following recent calls for researchers to investigate the explicit linkage between success factors and success criteria, we also analyze the influence of process transparency on process and product performance. We conducted a survey via a questionnaire with IS experts in Germany. We contribute to a deeper understanding of IS project success by indicating that customer satisfaction is less a matter of time and budget and that a stronger emphasis should be placed on product performance. Moreover, our results illuminate the role of process transparency in IS projects showing that it contributes to both process and product performance

Cuantificación del impacto de los procesos de negocio y de tecnologías de información, sobre las metas de utilidad

Se propone un modelo y método para cuantificar el impacto de los procesos operacionales críticos de un negocio y de los procesos de tecnologías de información y comunicación, sobre la meta de utilidad de la empresa. Se considera tanto el impacto positivo a la utilidad, como el negativo, derivado de riesgos de fallas en procesos. Para este propósito, definimos un dominio de procesos operacionales críticos de negocios y otro dominio de procesos de tecnologías de información y comunicación.Los dominios se representan por árboles invertidos, cada uno de varios niveles. El nivel inferior contiene procesos elementales, y los superiores, agrupaciones de ellos. A cada proceso o grupo hemos asociado las siguientes variables: Importancia relativa, contribución esperada, riesgos e impactos negativos.La matriz de cruce de los procesos de más bajo nivel, de ambos dominios, configura un espacio de interacción, en el cual se hace presente la variable dependencia, cuyo valor expresa el grado en que un proceso de negocio depende del proceso TIC que le cruza. La dependencia provoca transferencias de valores entre variables de procesos de negocio y procesos TIC. El cálculo de los nuevos valores y su consolidación hacia niveles superiores, determina la contribución e impacto negativo de cada proceso y grupo de ellos sobre las metas de utilidad de la empresa.El modelo y método son de utilidad al momento de planificar, permitiendo simular contribuciones e impactos de procesos, para diferentes valores planificados de las variables(nuevos metas,pesos,riesgos y dependencias). La comparación de los impactos del plan con los de períodos anteriores, ayuda a evaluar el plan.Por otra parte, en momento de control, se facilita la comparación de cifras del plan inicial con las logradas y decidir ajustes para un nuevo período

Critical Success Factors in Data Mining Projects.

The increasing awareness of data mining technology, along with the attendant increase in the capturing, warehousing, and utilization of historical data to support evidence-based decision making, is leading many organizations to recognize that the effective use of data is the key element in the next generation of client-server enterprise information technology. The concept of data mining is gaining acceptance in business as a means of seeking higher profits and lower costs. To deploy data mining projects successfully, organizations need to know the key factors for successful data mining. Implementing emerging information systems (IS) can be risky if the critical success factors (CSFs) have been researched insufficiently or documented inadequately. While numerous studies have listed the advantages and described the data mining process, there is little research on the success factors of data mining. This dissertation identifies CSFs in data mining projects. Chapter 1 introduces the history of the data mining process and states the problems, purposes, and significances of this dissertation. Chapter 2 reviews the literature, discusses general concepts of data mining and data mining project contexts, and reviews general concepts of CSF methodologies. It also describes the identification process for the various CSFs used to develop the research framework. Chapter 3 describes the research framework and methodology, detailing how the CSFs were identified and validated from more than 1,300 articles published on data mining and related topics. The validated CSFs, organized into a research framework using 7 factors, generate the research questions and hypotheses. Chapter 4 presents analysis and results, along with the chain of evidence for each research question, the quantitative instrument and survey results. In addition, it discusses how the data were collected and analyzed to answer the research questions. Chapter 5 concludes with a summary of the findings, describing assumptions and limitations and suggesting future research

Understanding and managing project complexity

This research focuses on project complexity with the aim to better understand it and to highlight the factors that affect/contribute to it. In addition, this research also highlights key project management practices and project critical success factors considered important to manage project complexity/complex projects. The two main motivating factors behind this research were, the lack of understanding of complex projects and the lack of relevance of project management theory to practice, which have been highlighted by many researchers. Since projects in different sectors are increasingly being characterised as complex, this entails a better project management knowledge base focusing on the dynamic, social and complex contexts of projects, so that the interrelationships, interdependencies and uncertainties between different project interfaces can be understood and managed properly. In order to understand this 'project actuality', it was necessary to obtain the views from practitioners working in these project settings and managing project dynamics and intricacies. To establish this pragmatic view, a series of interviews and questionnaire surveys was carried out and all efforts were made to select the participants working on complex projects with complex products falling under the Complex Product Systems (CoPS) category which was the case in the 2nd phase interviews and questionnaire, whereas in the 1st phase practitioners with industrial experience and also involved and/or in the process of getting academic qualification in project management were preferred. The first phase helped in establishing the theoretical and pragmatic perspective and the 2nd phase in refining and validating the findings. The questions were inline with the research focus mentioned earlier.The main findings of the research show that the perception of project complexity and its contributing factors were very much influenced by the project context, i.e. from organization level to work discipline level. No difference in the practitioners' perception of project complexity and its contributing factors was observed among the practitioners based in a similar organization and project setting. Novelty was found to be one of the key project complexity characteristics related to three project elements-people, product and process. In terms of key project management practices and skills considered important in managing project complexity, soft skills were reported useful by majority of the participants. The key processes found useful were either the ones which focused on people or others which helped to manage changes/deviations in projects. Influence and relationship, delegation, flexibility and trust were the main project critical success factors which emerged out of this research for complex projects.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

AN INVESTIGATION OF E-PORTFOLIO IMPLEMENTATION IN THE MALAYSIAN SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAMME (MSTP)

The Malaysian Skills Training Programme (MSTP) is a sub-division of Malaysian Vocational and Training Education (VET) under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Human Resource, Malaysia. The programme was developed to prepare skilled workers for employment in the ‘blue collar’ sector. The Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education and the UNESCO-UNEVOC believe that the VET should be upgraded to offer a more professional service in which ICT (Information and Communication Technology) applications such as electronic learning need to be explored and harnessed (Kafka & Dale, 2013). This thesis investigates the implementation of an electronic portfolio (E-portfolio) in one accredited Skills Training Institution in Malaysia. The research aim was to deploy an E-portfolio which was developed using MAHARA software with several skills training courses in one training semester. The idea of a ‘threshold concept’ was adopted to provide guidelines to direct the E-portfolio development and implementation. Kolb’s Experiential Learning (KEL) and Competency Based Training (CBT) were the main reference theories informing the design of the E-portfolio process of use. Based on quasi-experimental design, the system’s implementation included groups of students in 2013 and 2014 cohorts. Upon completion, the use of the E-portfolio was evaluated to determine the system’s impact and its effectiveness in the teaching and learning process. A mixed methods research approach was used, consisting of assessment rubrics, survey questionnaires, e-mail interviews, online communication and document reviews. A respondent’s validation based approach called a ‘report-and-respond enquiry’ was executed at the end of data analysis to validate the findings. Qualitative and quantitative data showed that the E-portfolio could contribute to the improvement of several aspects of teaching and training such as communication, reflection on practical work, motivation of learning, progress based learning, and the construction of new knowledge. In addition, senior staff believed that the use of an E-portfolio would benefit the institution by saving printing costs and enhancing the institution’s image to the public and to the awarding body. The findings suggested that, when blended with the current traditional training pedagogy, the E-portfolio system has the potential to be implemented as a showcase E-portfolio, used for online assessment or can be used as a teaching approach. The email interviews and Facebook communication revealed that user attitudes and the support required for the use of the E-portfolio are the biggest challenges. Based on these findings, a scaffolded approach to the implementation of E-portfolios in MSTP is recommended. The key outcomes of this research are the E-portfolio scaffolding strategies in the MSTP that could be deployed at other Skills Training institutions or organizations which intend to explore the use of E-portfolios in the future