Citizen relationship management implementation in Malaysian local governments

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.From the perspective of a system developer, this study presents an in-depth analysis of the CiRM implementation process in Malaysian local government. The study was motivated by the lack of studies examining the CiRM implementation process initiatives in the local government sector. Furthermore, the performance of the Malaysian Government in this initiative has been subjected to various criticisms, i.e., not properly servicing its public. This raises the question as to what has happened during the period of the CiRM implementation process in Malaysia. As there has been a demand for local governments to invest more in CiRM projects, the need for existing and potential system developers in the Malaysian government to have an implementation framework that could guide their effort in implementing the system has become more vital. This study combines the case study research and grounded theory approaches. Twenty in-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with system developers from ten local governments (i.e., five interviews from four pilot-cases and fifteen interviews from six primary-cases). The analyses of these data were divided in three main phases. The first phase involved a within and cross-case analyses of the pilot cases. The second and third phases involved a within and cross-case of the primary cases. These analyses enabled a set of determinants on CiRM implementation in the Malaysia local governments to be developed. The determinants were established by fitting their characteristics to the lifecycle of the CiRM system implementation process. Some of the determinants were found to be common to the existing literature while others were found to be enhancing the existing knowledge in CiRM implementation process. These determinants were then developed to shape a theoretical framework for the CiRM implementation process in the local Malaysian governments. This framework not only describes the main determinants in the implementation process, but also the forces and activities that lie within it.Doctoral studentship from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Organisational Determinants Influencing Citizen Relationship Management (CiRM) Implementation in the British Local Governments

This exploratory paper presents two British local governments in-depth case studies on the organisational determinants influencing the Citizenship Relationship Management (CiRM). Eight main organisational determinants have emerged as a result of the cross-case analysis. The determinants influencing the CiRM implementation might be on the surface look similar to the common CRM determinants but they are fundamentally not. This might be explained by the overwhelming impact of the interpersonal dynamics of the implementation process generated by the public. It can also be concluded that there are enormous amounts of successful CiRM implementation determinants available in the literature. These determinants will always be subjected to where and how CiRM has been implemented and it varies according to what organisation

Co2-ch4 reforming over lanthanide promoted cobalt/mesoporous alumina catalyst for syngas production

CO2-CH4 reforming has caught significant attention since this technology is able to convert undesirable ozone-depleting gases, CO2 and CH4, as feedstocks into the desired equimolar syngas for Fisher-Tropsch synthesis. At present, there is still a challenge in developing the highly stable and active catalysts for CO2-CH4 reforming as well as better resistance to carbon deposition. Therefore, the main idea of our work is to synthesize mesoporous alumina (MA) support using self-assembly hydrothermal approach (SAHA) technique before being impregnated with cobalt (Co). Then, the relationship between operating parameters, such as reforming temperature (923–1073 K) and reactant partial pressure (10-40 kPa) on catalytic performance and coke formation was evaluated in this work. The effect of lanthanide promoters (lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), yttrium (Y), and samarium (Sm)) and promoter loading (1, 2, 3, and 5wt.%) on the physicochemical properties of 10%Co/MA catalyst was also studied in this project. 10%Co/MA exhibited great catalytic performance (CH4 conversion = 70.9%, CO2 conversion = 71.7% and Rate of deactivation = 1.3%), credited to the well dispersed Co within pore MA, strong metal-support interaction, and MA confinement ability. The Co particle dispersion on MA support evidently improved after promoter incorporation, resulting in smaller crystallite size and lesser Co agglomeration. The reactant conversions improved in the order of YCo/MA > LaCo/MA > CeCo/MA > SmCo/MA > Co/MA, while the amount of carbon deposit was recorded with the sequence of Co/MA > SmCo/MA > LaCo/MA > CeCo/MA > YCo/MA. Additionally, YCo/MA catalyst attained the highest catalytic performance (CH4 conversion = 85.8%, CO2 conversion = 92.2%, Rate of deactivation = 0.57%) and possessed the lowest carbon deposition (7.02%) due to great Co dispersion, small Co particle size with strong Co-MA interaction and higher oxygen storage capacity. H2/CO ratios were obtained within 0.78-0.86, which is slightly lower than 1 due to the reverse water-gas shift. A superior catalytic performance was shown by 3wt.% Y2O3 loading (CH4 conversion = 85.8%, and CO2 conversion = 90.5%), followed by 2wt.% > 5 wt.% > 1wt.% > 0 wt.% Y2O3 loading. This result was attributed to the favorable catalytic properties of 3%Y-10%Co/MA including small Co particle size, high Co dispersion, high amount of atomic ratio (Co/Al), and a high number of lattice oxygen vacancies. The excess Y2O3 addition (>3 wt.%) led to inevitably blocked Co active sites and resulted in decreasing catalytic performance. The 3wt.% Y2O3 promoter loading recorded the lowest carbon deposited (7.0%) due to the highest oxygen vacancies (78.1%) as compared to 1, 2 and 5 wt.% Y2O3. As a conclusion, the employment of MA support and incorporation of Y2O3 (3wt.) effectively boosted the Co performance in CO2-CH4 reforming along with suppressing the deposition of carbon on the catalyst surface as compared with other promoted catalysts (Ce, La, and Sm) and Y2O3 loadings (1, 2, 5wt.) owing to the improvement in catalysts structure and physicochemical attributes

Using a priori algorithm for supporting e-commerce system

The Internet technology has brought about a significant impact in doing business. It promotes the new way of doing business by enabling new system such as electronic commerce (e-commerce) to the worldwide users. Currently, the e-commerce system does not only provide electronic transactions like online payment, electronic cart shopping and ordering, and online tracking, but it must also be able to support a good relationship with their customers by providing a creative way in its business operations. It is because of many organizations having to maintain their customers by serving a good customer satisfaction. Lack understanding of the customers will cause an organization loss their customers and then would loss the company profit. This paper demonstrates the development of e-commerce system by focusing on the use of a Priori algorithm as supported feature in our e-commerce system. The feature is included to increase a good customer relationship management for the proposed system. It is hoped the proposed prototype would illustrate some practical ideas on how much advantages can be benefited from the e-commerce system and customer relationship management

Alignment Framework in Enterprise Architecture Development

The challenge of business-IT alignment, the increasing complexity of organizations’ operations and supporting organization transformation are the main drivers for organizations to adopt Enterprise Architecture (EA) concept. Despite the rapid interest in the EA, organizations are facing challenge to realize organizational value out of it. This challenge can be rooted to the lack of the stakeholders needs and concerns consideration in the final developed architecture which result in low utilization or no acceptance of EA. The enterprise architects and the stakeholders are the main players in the development phase of EA. Literature highlighted the need of alignment framework that can support the enterprise architects to align the development of EA with the stakeholders’ expectations. Furthermore, there is a scarcity of academic studies that shed the light on the alignment between the enterprise architects and the stakeholders during the development of EA. Hence, the purpose of this study is to develop a framework that supports the alignment between the enterprise architects and the stakeholders in EA development to ensure a mutual understanding and agreement. The study is guided by the interpretive paradigm to address the research gap through the utilization of a qualitative methodology. The research is using the case study approach to build in-depth understanding of the relationship between the enterprise architects and stakeholders in EA development. The understanding from Multiple Perspectives Theory is used to develop the initial research model to provide initial guidance in data collection and analysis. Currently, the research is at the analysis stage of case study data. The developed framework is expected to support the practitioners in the EA development by uncovering the factors influencing the alignment between the enterprise architects and the stakeholders during the development process. Additionally, the study is building a comprehensive understanding on how the enterprise architects consider the stakeholders needs and concerns in the development of EA

Eliciting tacit knowledge from special education teachers

Children are national precious asset whether they are normal or special.In this paper special children refer to children with learning disability.Children with learning disability usually have problem in understanding instruction during their learning process.Therefore, they require experienced and well trained teacher to teach them because they can deal with their special needs and ability.However,the valuable knowledge on how to teach these children usually remains tacitly in the mind of the teachers.Therefore, this paper tries to elicit tacit knowledge from special education teachers for the purpose of knowledge sharing. Storytelling and scenario method were used to capture the tacit knowledge from five special education teachers.As a result,tips on effective teaching has been identify based on the situation.The result can be shared among new teachers,researchers and also can be consider in designing courseware for children with learning disability

Research Perspective in Enterprise Architecture

The challenges of aligning IT with business triggered the attention towards Enterprise Architecture (EA). Despite the increase interest of academic scholars in EA, there is scarcity of studies that provide an up to date comprehensive research perspective view. The purpose of this study is to examine the research methodologies and theories utilized in EA studies from 2010 to 2016. The study employed Systematic Literature Review (SLR) as method to explore and analyze the literature of EA. The study revealed the research approaches and data collection methods utilized in EA. It shows that case study approach and interviews are the highly used compared to other research approaches and data collection instruments. Furthermore, it pointed out the low employment of theories in EA studies. The study is contributing to the body of knowledge by providing a foundation for novice researchers in the area of EA through detailed discussions of research methodologies and theories which are expected to support them in designing future studies

Catalytic Performance of La-Ni/Al2O3 Catalyst for CO2 Reforming of Ethanol

Bio-derived ethanol has been considered as an attractive and alternative feedstock for dry or steam reforming reactions to generate renewable hydrogen, which may be used for replacement of conventional fossil fuels. Ethanol dry reforming (EDR) is an environmentally-friendly process since it transforms greenhouse gas, CO2 to value-added products and ethanol can be easily obtained from biomass which is free of catalyst poisons (i.e. sulphur-containing compounds). However, there are currently limited studies regarding syngas production from EDR [1, 2]. Ni-based catalysts are commonly used for reforming reactions due to its capability of C-C bond rupture, relatively low cost and high availability compared to precious metals [2]. Nevertheless, carbonaceous deposition may considerably deteriorate catalytic activity and stability of Ni-based catalysts. La promoter reportedly hindered carbon deposition and improved catalytic activity [3]. Hence, the objective of this research was to investigate the effect of La promotion on 10%Ni/Al2O3 catalyst for EDR

A research framework of electronic document management systems implementation process in government

Many governments today have implemented Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS). The employment of EDMS systems has increased the operational (e.g. document storage and retrieval, auditing, workflow facilities, searching and publishing) effectiveness of governments on daily basis. However, not many studies had been undertaken into process of implementing EDMS in the government context. Therefore, this paper fills this gap by presenting a research framework for the implementation process of EDMS. Based on a content analysis of the reviewed literature, this paper identifies thirteen (13) common factors contributing to the implementation process of EDMS. The factors are: (1) Top management support; (2) Budgetary; (3) Implementation planning; (4) Anti-corruption; (5) Implementation staff; (6) Security and privacy; (7) Data quality, (8) User requirements; (9) Cooperation; (10) Systems integration; (11) Awareness; (12) Resistance to change; and (13) Staff training. All these factors subsequently were linked to the Prosci-ADKAR model of change to outline the structure of EDMS implementation process framework. The proposed framework contributes to the theoretical understanding of the EAI implementation process, which may support government practitioners in implementing the EDMS applications in their government organizations. The paper also highlights with three important issues that need to be explored further while developing the framework: 1) the EDMS implementation process meaning in system development life cycle; 2) the importance of EDMS implementation factors; and 3) the kind approach to investigate EDMS implementation process