Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System Tools: The Context of their Creation and Use Within the Technology Transfer Process

This paper represents a discussion of research-in- progress which deals with the creation of information systems (IS) tools within a given context (environmental, cultural, historical, social) and their transfer to and implementation within another context. The mutual contingency of skills and tools is highlighted as a major contextual factor for the successful transfer and implementation of an IS. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are a relatively new and strategic class of IS which are gaining in importance for the function and competitive advantage of the modern organisation. Which ERP contextual skills issues need to be addressed in order to facilitate the successful transfer and implementation of these IS into varied organisational contexts? This paper poses a number of research questions within the area of ERP transfer and implementation using the University of NSW as a case example

Information Technology and Systems (IT and S) as Tools: Cultural Bias and the Implications for International Technology Transfer (ITT)?

This paper represents the further development of ideas presented at the AIS Conference in Arizona in August 1996. At that conference an Information Technology and Systems (IT & S) paradigmatic framework was outlined which presented the idea that the IT & S research area could be expressed through a model of tool creation and use. This paper further refines this framework and highlights the implications of such an approach to IT & S in the area of international technology transfer (ITT)

Social media in disaster response : Queensland Police Service - public engagement during the 2011 floods

Social Media, particularly Microblogging services, are now being adopted as an additional tool for emergency service agencies to be able to interact with the community at all stages of a disaster. Unfortunately, no standard framework for Social Media adoption for disaster management exists and emergency service agencies are adopting Social Media in an ad-hoc fashion. This paper seeks to provide a general understanding of how Social Media is being used by emergency service agencies during disasters, to better understand how we might develop a standardised framework of adoption. In this study of the 2010/11 Queensland Flood event, Facebook broadcast messages from the Queensland Police Service to the general public, were analysed by genre. Findings show that these Microblogging activities were mostly about information distribution and warning broadcasts and that the strength of Social Media for two-way communication and collaboration with the general public, was under-utilised during this event.<br /

DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY WARNING SYSTEMS: INTER-ORGANISATIONAL COLLABORATION AND ICT INNOVATION.

Emergency Services Agencies (ESA) are required to co-operate and collaborate on a regular basis to provide their communities with warning information about disasters and incidents. Community Warning Systems (CWS) are a vital component of ESA operations as there are many different types of disasters and emergency incidents of varying complexity and uncertainty, which in turn directly influence the type of CWS that should be employed by an ESA for any particular incident. This paper outlines research conducted into CWS in New South Wales (NSW) state government ESA that highlights that a unified approach to the assessment, development, deployment and use of CWS. This approach could be utilised by governments at federal, state and local levels for cross border and jurisdictional management of ESA informational, ICT and process resources. Such an approach would assist government in better targeting expenditure on CWS and using ICT in an innovative manner. This research also highlights that when developing and deploying a CWS, there should be careful consideration of a number of background contextual issues such as: stakeholder involvement, incident complexity; utilisation of multi-ICT delivery platforms for economies of scale; integration of multi-ESA operational, community, communication and ICT requirements for shared direction; and development of an ICT architecture for building learning capabilities and skills of stakeholders

Inter-Organizational Systems (IOS) for Supply Chain Management (SCM): A Multi-Perspective Adoption Framework

There has been no framework developed, to date, that has been found to examine an Inter- Organisational System (IOS) for Supply Chain Management (SCM) from supplier and customer perspectives. This paper proposes such a framework and then uses four theories, namely resource dependency theory, organisational theory, actor-network theory and negotiated order theory, to understand how the framework supports management collaboration and interaction in the adoption of an IOS. This adoption framework is proposed to better study how senior management staff, from both supplier and customer perspectives, collaborate and interact in the IOS adoption process. The framework has been constructed from the literature identifying six major aspects for consideration namely: inter and intra organisational collaboration; strategic management approaches; supply chain design (SCD); business process redesign/reengineering (BPR); information systems (IS)/information technology (IT) architecture and external environmental factors. Understanding the interaction of management from customer and supplier perspectives in the adoption of an IOS for SCM, makes a significant contribution to knowledge in this area

CONTEXTUALIZING IS IN BUSINESS: $ R US FINANCIAL PLANNING – A MODULAR TEACHING CASE FOR INTRODUCTORY 1ST YEAR GENERAL BUSINESS MIS COURSES

This Teaching Case has been developed to assist students in introductory first year MIS courses to develop an understanding of business context, while building practical expertise in IS modeling techniques and problem solving. The case has been formulated around a small financial planning practice, in order to work in a learning environment where students may not have had any (or limited) exposure to organizational business operations. In focusing on a small organization students are able to very gradually build their knowledge of organizations in an easily understood and controlled fashion. The case is composed of self-contained vignettes/modules. While the case takes students on a journey with the establishment of the business and its growth, it is also flexible and possible to alter the selection and sequence of modules to fit a particular course outline. The case covers the breadth of entry-level MIS courses and works with typical MIS introductory textbooks

The Impact of Disaster Typology on Social Media Use by Emergency Services Agencies: The Case of the Boston Marathon Bombing

In disaster management, emergency services agencies such as police forces, are growingly using social media microblogging services as an additional channel to distribute information to the general public. How these emergency services agencies are using these social media channels is still insufficiently understood. This paper introduces Actor-Network-Theory as a means to understand the emergency services agency social media utilisation. Using the case of the Boston Marathon 2013 Bombing, we apply genre analysis in interpreting the Boston Police Department’s social media communication to understand whether the disaster typology or the used social media channel have an influence on the microblogging utilisation of the emergency services agency. The findings imply that both the used social media channel and the specific characteristics of a disaster have an influence on how a social media channel is used

A Perspectival Punctuated Action Approach to Policy Development in Information Technology and Systems

The evolution of information technology and systems (ITS) architecture in recent times has magnified the complexity and multi-perspectival nature of the ITS management context. ITS developments such as e-Business models and frameworks, commercialisation of the Internet and creation of agile systems development approaches have highlighted the need to consider ITS management from a more diverse, inter-subjective and multi- perspectival point of view (rather than the more traditional positivist process reduction approaches). The Perspectival ITS Management Model (developed by Bunker 2004) provides a multi-perspectival insight into ITS management and the planning, control, policy development and processes that accompanies this management. The focus in Design Science (Simon 1977) also reflects the development of innovative and useful system artefacts (from a more traditional positivist process reduction orientation) and is consistent with the Perspectival ITS Management Model. In this paper it is argued that much can be learnt from using Simon’s (1977) Design Science approach as a lens of process analysis in conjunction with the Perspectival ITS Management Model to study the management of ITS artefacts through the development of a Perspectival Punctuated Action (PPA) approach. PPA is explained and used to briefly explore the public consultation process in the development of a B2G online authentication framework